Prolacta Bioscience applauds new California state law expanding access to donor human milk for fragile infants

DUARTE, Calif., October 1, 2024 – Prolacta Bioscience^®, the world’s leading hospital provider of 100% human milk-based nutritional products for critically ill and premature infants, applauds the California State Legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom for passing AB 3059 into law, which expands access to donor human milk.  

“California has delivered a huge win for vulnerable infants by making donor human milk more accessible in California,” said Scott Elster, CEO of Prolacta.

The law expands insurance coverage for all licensed milk banks that comply with state regulations for product safety. With increased access to donor milk supporting health equity across communities, health outcomes can be improved for fragile babies throughout the Golden State.  

Access to donor milk for fragile infants can play a critical role in determining health outcomes, such as reducing the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). NEC is a life-threatening and sometimes fatal intestinal disease that primarily affects premature or sick newborns. The California Health Benefits Review Program¹ has found clear and convincing evidence that donor human milk is more effective at preventing NEC than cow milk-based preterm formula for preterm infants. 

“With the governor’s signature, NICUs will have increased donor human milk resources and can deliver critical nutrition to fragile infants and preemies during their first days of life,” Elster said.  “We thank Assemblywoman Weber for her leadership introducing this bill and Senators Richard Roth and Susan Rubio for their work to ensure that donor milk from all milk banks licensed by the California Department of Public Health is covered.”

Until now, California state law did not provide coverage for all licensed milk banks in the state. Prolacta, which operates a milk bank in California, follows similar standards to those used in the blood plasma industry. Prolacta developed and maintains a donor milk screening, collection, and testing process that leads the industry in quality and safety.

About Prolacta Bioscience
Prolacta Bioscience^® is a global life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk^® to improve health outcomes for critically ill and premature infants. More than 100,000 extremely premature infants worldwide2 have benefited from Prolacta's human milk-based products, which have been evaluated in more than 30 peer-reviewed clinical studies. Operating the world's first pharmaceutical-grade human milk processing facilities, Prolacta maintains the industry's strictest quality and safety standards, with over 20 validated tests for screening and testing human milk. Prolacta's manufacturing process uses vat pasteurization to ensure pathogen inactivation while protecting nutritional composition and bioactivity. Connect with us at X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Loren Kosmont
Lkosmont@prolacta.com
310.721.9444

References

1. California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP). Analysis of California Assembly Bill 3059 Human Milk. April 16, 2024. Accessed September 24, 2024. https://www.chbrp.org/sites/default/files/bill-documents/AB3059/AB%203059%20Human%20Milk%20-%20FINAL_0.pdf
2. Data on file; estimated number of infants fed Prolacta's products from January 2007 to August 2023.