Historical Perspective · 2006

Hemopure in South Africa: Beyond Blood Replacement

A clinical observation from 2006 that still matters to the discussion of oxygen therapeutics.

Archil Jaliashvili · BHOC TherapeuticsOriginal clinical report: 2006
Wiley article header for L. J. Levien’s 2006 report, South Africa: clinical experience with Hemopure.
Article-page header, Wiley Online Library / ISBT Science Series. First published 15 August 2006. View the original publication ↗

In 2006, L. J. Levien reported clinical surveillance experience with Hemopure (HBOC-201) in 336 patients in South Africa. About 89% did not require blood transfusion.

The more lasting observation was a change in clinical use: greater attention to tissue oxygenation, rather than treating Hemopure only as a red-cell substitute.

This was an observational report, not a randomized comparison. Levien called for controlled prospective studies of tissue oxygen delivery.

For BHOC, it is a historical reference for Precision Oxygen Therapeutics: focus on the oxygen-delivery function, not on reproducing blood.

Historical Hemopure evidence, not clinical validation of BHOC.

Original publication

Levien LJ. South Africa: clinical experience with Hemopure. ISBT Science Series. 2006;1(1):167–173.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-2824.2006.00025.x