Press Releases
INDUSTRY, CA. Jun. 18, 2013 – Prolacta Bioscience has announced a donor breast milk supply partnership program that will ensure a safe, standardized, and guaranteed supply of 100% human breast milk products to help improve the health outcomes of premature infants who are in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Under the program, Prolacta will manage the breast milk donor qualification process for hospitals by conducting health screenings, blood testing, and the milk collection process for newly established donors at participating hospitals. Prolacta will also conduct the safety and quality testing of the donor milk before pasteurizing for hospital use.
“We have developed this partnership program in an effort to help hospitals achieve the goal of human milk diets for their preemie infant population in the NICU,” said Scott Elster, CEO of Prolacta. “Our human milk formulations will assist hospitals in avoiding the use of cow milk products in diets of premature babies, thereby improving health outcomes for fragile, extremely premature infants.”
This partnership model program was first piloted in Texas, and as a result of its success, it is being rolled- out nationally by Prolacta. Hospitals across the country have expressed widespread interest as a result of donor milk shortages, as well as growing evidence and data supporting the health benefits of an exclusive human milk diet for premature infants in the NICU, as opposed to cow milk-based fortification or formula. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has reinforced this with their 2012 policy statement on breastfeeding and the use of human milk, pointing to a reduction in the odds of developing the often fatal disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in extremely preterm infants (those born weighing 500-1250g), when fed an exclusively human milk diet, as compared to those fed a diet including cow milk-based proteins. The AAP also reaffirmed their recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding of all babies in the first six months of life, since there is no substitution for the nutritional composition and biologically active components - such as antibodies in breast milk - that an infant needs in its beginning stage of life. The importance of monitoring the quality control of pasteurized donor milk is also indicated in the AAP statement.
To facilitate the partnership, hospitals will recruit mothers within the community who have extra breast milk and who want to help make a difference. This will create awareness in their local community regarding the fact that moms with a surplus of breast milk can donate their extra milk, as opposed to pouring their “liquid gold” down the drain, as many mothers do without knowledge of other options. This call to action in the community is essential since the growing demand of human donor milk has resulted in supply shortages, causing some hospitals to continue the use of cow milk-based nutritional and formula supplementation. The breast milk donations from a hospital’s own community will allow participating hospitals an opportunity to become self-sustaining. The hospital will be guaranteed a supply of donor breast milk based on the needs of their premature infant population, in part supported by the volume of milk donated by nursing mothers from within the community.
The milk donation process is easy and convenient. Moms will be able to donate without ever having to leave the comfort of their own homes, and the family doesn’t incur any out-of-pocket expenses. The initial screening is done online, certified phlebotomists come to the mother’s home, and all of the storage and shipping supplies are sent directly to the mom. Shipment pick-up is then arranged so that mother and baby won’t be burdened by having to drive the shipment coolers anywhere. For many moms, this program will come as a welcome option, since many struggle with what to do with their extra breast milk, and they will now be able to support premature infants in their community, through a process made easy and convenient by Prolacta.
Human breast milk is highly variable, therefore standardization is significant. For the first time, hospitals will be able to provide donor milk with a precise amount of calories and protein, enabling targeted nutrition to ensure appropriate growth in preemies. This ability to standardize donor milk now takes the guesswork out of the equation for NICU healthcare practitioners who are attempting to prescribe specific nutrition for fragile preemies.
Prolacta is setting the new standard of safety and quality in human milk processing, with a pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing facility that is the first and only of its kind worldwide. Additionally, Prolacta is the only organization that includes a safety combination of DNA matching of mom to milk, testing for drugs and other contamination, adulteration, as well as HIV-1, HCV, and HBV through PCR testing to ensure the highest-quality available human milk products to feed the sickest infants in hospital NICUs. Like blood, human milk is a biologic; however, Prolacta’s advanced technology provides for an unmatched and extra margin of safety to protect from any potential transmission of virus. The millions of dollars invested in Prolacta’s research, development, and unique state-of-the-art manufacturing facility has not only ensured the safety of its products, but it has enabled Prolacta’s ability to apply its expertise in nutrition from a biological approach, which has never been done until now.
As a leader in the science of human milk, Prolacta’s unmatched technology, safety, and processing is one reason hospitals will choose Prolacta as its partner to help provide the desired standardized nutrition for their fragile premature infants, and they will join together in setting the new standard of nutritional care in the NICU.
About Prolacta Bioscience
Prolacta Bioscience, Inc. (www.prolacta.com) is a life science company dedicated to improving quality of life by Advancing the Science of Human Milk®. Prolacta creates specialty formulations made exclusively from human milk for the nutritional needs of critically ill, premature infants in NICU. It is the first and only company to provide a commercially available human milk fortifier made from 100% human milk, Prolact+ H2MF. Prolacta operates a pharmaceutical grade processing plant and have designed and patented processes that enable them to make their one-of-a-kind products. Prolacta is committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of the most vulnerable premature babies through world-class research and innovative products.
Media Contact:
Loren Kosmont
Lkosmont@prolacta.com
310-721-9444