Meeting the Demand for Unrelated Donors in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Adaptations by the National Marrow Donor Program and Its Network Partners Ensured a Safe Supply of Donor Products

Highlights • The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) received preliminary search requests for over 3300 domestic and 3700 international allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant candidates during the initial phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. • Despite a decrease in preliminary search requests, the number of unrelated donor grafts infused at domestic transplant centers following the initial phase of COVID-19 was only 4% less than the same period of time 1 year earlier. • Of over 2800 transportation legs and over 1600 transports completed through the NMDP, only 1 product was delivered outside of the requested time window in the initial period after COVID-19.
The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) donor registries and transplant center (TC) practices is underreported. This article reports on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Be The Match Registry and its coordinating the provision of unrelated donor (URD) products to domestic and international TCs during the initial 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March through May 2020). Specifically, NMDP data are presented for disease indications for transplant, URD search volumes and availability, graft requests and processing, courier utilization and performance, and conversion rates from formal donor search and workup to graft collection and shipment. Data following the onset of COVID-19 are compared to the immediate 3 months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2019 through February 2020) and the same quarter 1 year prior to COVID-19 (March through May 2019). During the initial onset of COVID-19 and compared to 1 year prior, TCs requested and the NMDP performed less donor searches. More multiple URD and direct to workup requests were processed by the NMDP, which likely reflected reductions in donor availability. Yet TCs continued to perform allogeneic transplants for acute disease indications like acute leukemia and myelodysplasia, using more cryopreserved grafts than before COVID-19. In comparison to prepandemic patient cycle conversion rates and durations, the NMDP was able to convert patient cycles at nearly the same or higher rates and in similar or shorter periods of time. Last, despite significant challenges caused by the pandemic, including interruptions in domestic courier services and travel restrictions, graft products were delivered to and received by TCs in similar periods of time than before COVID-19. Taken together, these data show that NMDP service line operations continued to function effectively during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring requests for and delivery of URD products to domestic and international allogeneic HCT recipients.