Regional
The blood and cell therapy production center of the social security institute: a milestone for hemotherapy in Paraguay
Romi Alcaraz Paredes
Instituto de Previsión Social, Asunción, Paraguay
Victor Ariel Sánchez Schlunk
Instituto de Previsión Social, Asunción, Paraguay
The Blood and Cell Therapy Production Center (CPSyTC) of the Social Security Institute (IPS) is the result of a collective vision that began to take shape in late 2017, driven by professionals who dreamed of transforming hemotherapy in Paraguay. That initial idea—to create a modern, safe, efficient, and humane space—became a reality with the inauguration of the Center in December 2021, in the city of Asunción, capital of the Republic of Paraguay.
With a surface area of 1,591 m² and an investment exceeding 10 billion guaraníes (≈1.25M€), the facility was designed based on criteria of energy efficiency, sustainability, and future growth. LED lighting, natural light optimization, accessibility, structured data networks, and expansion areas are part of an architectural design intended to support the country’s scientific and technological evolution in transfusion medicine.
Technological innovation and national leadership
Since its launch, the CPSyTC has established itself as a benchmark for innovation. In November 2022, IPS, through the Center, became the first institution in Paraguay to implement NAT (Nucleic Acid Testing) for the detection of infectious agents in blood donors, raising the country’s transfusion safety standards to an international level.
It also incorporated the only blood component irradiator in Paraguay, ensuring immunological safety for oncohematological patients and immunocompromised recipients. The infrastructure includes laboratories with HEPA filters, cold storage chambers with vertical carousels—the largest in the country—and a digital self-managed inventory system, ensuring traceability and real-time control.
The Center was designed to receive up to 50,000 donors per year and produce 150,000 blood components, with redundant energy systems and safety circuits that ensure operational continuity even under critical conditions. This capacity positions it as a strategic component of the national health system.
An organization at the service of the country
The CPSyTC structures its operations into six technical areas and seven interconnected operational zones, led by a team of committed professionals:
- Donation Promotion – Dr. Miguel Orué
- Supply Provision – Pharm. Larissa Gines
- Biological Qualification – Dr. Ariel Sánchez Schlunk
- Blood Component Production – Dr. Elio Marecos
- Quality Assurance – Dr. Soledad Iriarte
- Transfusion Medicine – Dr. Carolina Acosta
Each area works in coordination to sustain a continuous improvement process that spans from donor selection to safe transfusion for the patient. As a whole, the Center reflects the technical and organizational maturity of IPS in its commitment to donors and patients
José Eduardo Levi visiting the centre
CPSyTC blood collection area
CPSyTC NAT area
CPSyTC donor and rest area
Innovation in cell therapy and scientific development
The Center not only produces blood components but is also advancing decisively into cell therapy. It has an ISO 8 laboratory for the cryopreservation of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) and for the development of flow cytometry applied to quality control in donors and patients.
This approach makes CPSyTC a key player within the National Transplant Network and in strengthening Paraguay’s advanced therapies system, promoting the country’s technological and scientific self-sufficiency.
Commitment to donors and the community
The design of the Center places voluntary donors at the heart of the system. Its spacious, well-lit donation room, with views of green areas, creates a welcoming environment that reinforces the spirit of solidarity. Separate restrooms, accessibility, and personalized care reflect the human value that inspires every stage of the process.
With extended hours from Monday to Sunday, from 06:30 to 17:30, CPSyTC facilitates citizen participation and serves as a replicable model for the entire national blood network.
International cooperation is also part of its identity: the agreement with the province of Córdoba (Argentina) for the export of surplus plasma allows the return of essential plasma-derived medicines, such as immunoglobulins, albumin, and factor VIII, thus ensuring access to high-cost treatments for IPS beneficiaries.
Regional recognition and impact on hemotherapy In 2025, the Center received the First Prize for Free Papers at the 13th Congress of the Ibero-American Cooperative Group of Transfusion Medicine (GCIAMT), for its study on donor screening safety, reaffirming its regional leadership and commitment to applied research.
At the end of 2024, the Center promoted the creation of the National Group for Rare Phenotypes, which is part of the Rare Phenotypes Registry of GCIAMT, thereby strengthening international cooperation in the field of rare blood groups. Shortly thereafter, in early 2025, an international assistance operation was carried out with the export of Diego b negative red blood cell concentrates to a patient in the Argentine Republic.
This historic event was accompanied by another unprecedented achievement: for the first time in Paraguay, and at the Blood Production Center itself, an erythrapheresis procedure was performed on a donor, obtaining a double product.
Although these procedures are routine in many countries, their first execution in national territory represents a scientific and operational milestone that fills the team with pride and reaffirms that, “despite being a small country, Paraguay can also achieve this.”
Today, the CPSyTC represents much more than a modern facility: it is the symbol of a new paradigm in Paraguayan hemotherapy, based on safety, quality, innovation, and empathy.
For Romy Alcaraz, head of the Blood and Cell Therapy Production Center of IPS, this achievement represents “the realization of a collective dream born from the hope that Paraguay would achieve safe blood at the right time.” Under her leadership, the Center has become a national and international benchmark, where science and solidarity come together every day to save lives.
