Interregional Blood Transfusion SRC (thereafter IBT) is one of 11 regional blood transfusion services in Switzerland and a member of the national umbrella organization Swiss Transfusion SRC. It delivers to patients and customers blood products and services in transfusion medicine. Its core areas of expertise are collecting, processing, testing and delivering labile blood products, along with providing diagnosis and advice in transfusion medicine.
IBT collects blood products from Vaud, Valais and Bern Cantons in seven blood transfusion centers and organizes more than 700 mobile blood drives per year in close collaboration with Samaritan associations and volunteer groups. Epalinges blood transfusion center, located in the middle of Biopôle since 2009, welcomes any donor willing to give blood.

IBT employs a staff of around 350 people.

Research description

Transfusion medicine is in perpetual evolution and has faced several challenges from donors screening to clinical practices through blood preparation.
The Research and Development (R&D) at IBT is focused on the safety and efficiency of transfusion medicine from donors to patients, through basic research and innovation. Our R&D is based on three pillars: diagnostics (infectious markers and immunohematology), blood products and medicine. It contributes to the future and sustainable development of our blood bank and the transfusion medicine.
Particularly in Biopôle, the R&D Products participates to the improvement of the blood supply chain, the quality and safety of labile blood products. In Research, the aims are to understand the impact of the transfusion chain at the molecular and cellular levels, to transfer technologies and to communicate to physicians and blood bankers on potential lesions and their impact. In Development, the focus is made on the technical improvements of blood processing and new innovative solutions, validation, and the production of specific products for the research.
Finally and in addition to the main blood collection, the blood center in Biopôle Epalinges participates to the treatment of patients in hematology and hemato-oncology and it is a partner of the CHUV for the development of innovative therapies.