Blood shortages aren’t just critical to humans these days. Pets need blood in emergencies too.
The Red Cross has been asking the public to donate blood for years, but when was the last time you heard of a doggy blood drive?
Michael Rooney, a biomedical engineer from Vernon Hills, is hoping to address the need for animal blood. He has developed a canine blood substitute that he plans to have on the market soon for veterinarians and animal hospitals.
Rooney, 43, said that although human blood banks abound, there are far fewer places where veterinarians can find dog blood in a pinch.
“With so few blood centers for animals, they are unable to keep up with the demand,” Rooney said. “To get dog blood takes a huge effort. You have to wait, and you’re lucky if they even have it.”
During about a seven-year period, Rooney has developed a canine blood substitute called Dog-Oxygenator-1, or DOG-O-1, which is under review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also is planning to conduct further trials necessary for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He expects FDA approval next year, with his substitute reaching the market in about a year and a half.
Rooney and his brother John of Oak Brook plan to sell their blood substitute through their newly formed company, DuPage Biofluids Inc., based in Lombard.
“We expect this to be a very large and growing market,” Michael Rooney said. “We’re pretty confident that this is ready to take off.”
Rooney already has run extensive clinical trials of the blood substitute with excellent results, he said. Testing included transfusing dogs during the time when he worked for the Loyola University Medical Center, as well as analyses of the blood substitute by independent labs.
The blood substitute would be used for animals undergoing planned surgery. A variation of the formula, called DOG-O-2, would be used for emergency trauma cases in which veterinarians need blood quickly to stabilize their canine patients. DOG-O-2 has an agent that promotes red blood cell production. If need be, he added, a dog can live on a complete transfusion with either of his substitutes.
Dr. Colleen Pagor, a veterinarian at the Franklin Park Animal Hospital, said she would welcome a canine blood substitute. “If we had a synthetic product we could use in place of blood, that would be ideal as long as it had the same important properties as real blood,” she said.
Pagor said several dogs usually are kept on the premises of the hospital for the purpose of donating blood in emergencies, a relatively common practice at veterinary clinics. But dogs are not always available, and the hospital must search for blood through other clinics, which can be a problem. “It could be critical if we need it right away,” she said.
Dr. David Holt, a veterinary surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary hospital in Philadelphia and board member of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, said the demand for animal blood always exceeds the supply. He believes that veterinarians would embrace a quality blood substitute.
“I think there’s definitely a market for it,” Holt said. “As people expect more for their pets’ care, the market is going to grow and grow.”
Holt said the university’s animal hospital has its own version of a blood drive. “We have a bloodmobile that goes out at least once a week for donations,” he said. “We need it because we use a huge amount of blood and blood products here.”
In cases where blood is not available, Holt said, surgeons use intravenous fluids as a temporary measure to supply fluid volume to the circulatory system.
“But this is only for some conditions,” he said. “When you need blood, you need blood. The main thing it does is to transport oxygen to the body, to the lungs and to the tissue.”
A blood substitute can be used to help treat a variety of conditions, Holt said. For example, blood products are needed to treat animals with anemia, or a low red blood cell count. Blood also is needed for transfusions and to treat animals with cancers that cause internal bleeding of the organs.
Rooney is aware that some animal hospitals have resident dogs on site as blood donors. The problem is that the donor and receiver may not be compatible, and the wrong blood could cause further health problems. Dogs have about 20 blood types, and the number is growing as breeds are mixed. His substitute is universal for use in any dog. Also, he said, dog blood does not keep well or last long.
Researchers have been working to develop human blood substitutes for years. Baxter International in Deerfield and Northfield Laboratories Inc. in Evanston already are competing to market their human blood substitutes.
Robert Black, a Chicago health-care analyst and head of SNC Capital Management Corp., said a product such as Rooney’s canine blood substitute not only fills a niche in the market but also could have far-reaching effects.
“I think it’s another step toward human blood substitutes, but also there are implications for other animals such as horses and livestock,” he said.
Rooney said he is focusing on canine blood for now.
“I started working on this product primarily for humans,” Rooney said. “But I realized as an entrepreneur that it would be too competitive. I’ve always been a dog owner and a dog enthusiast, and I’ve always been interested in the veterinary field.”
He said he was inspired to get into the field while studying pre-veterinary medicine at Western Illinois University in Macomb. But instead of becoming a veterinarian, Rooney decided to study bioengineering. “The blood substitute business was introduced around then, and I started working in hematology. I studied the human side of things first,” Rooney said.
He went on to earn a doctorate in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University and continued research into human blood substitutes. But then he started applying his research to animals.
Rooney learned firsthand of the need for dog blood when he tried to schedule knee surgery for his own dog. “I didn’t want them to do the surgery because they didn’t have blood,” he said. “The knee ended up healing itself over time.”
Rooney said he continued his work, eventually developing a blood product he believed would work. It is based on an extract of natural dog blood cells that is modified and added to synthetic chemicals.
His brother John thought they really had something. “We were always discussing this and brainstorming things together,” said John, who fits patients with prosthetics. “I said, `Mike, why don’t we go into marketing canine blood substitutes? With human blood, we would be going up against the giants.’ The way to succeed in business is to find a niche.”
So they got to it. “We developed a business plan over the next year,” said John, who joked, “I’m more of a business person, and he’s more of an intellectual.”
The brothers have lined up investors and are banking on the fact that people who love their pets will create the demand for a product that could help prolong or save their pets’ lives.
“For many people, pets are of primary concern,” John Rooney said. “They are people’s companions, for older people and young people. Pet owners want good medical care for their animals.”
Michael Rooney said he doesn’t plan to stop with his canine blood substitute. “We eventually hope to have a cat blood substitute as well,” he said. “We’ve also been looking at birds. There are lots of possibilities.”
