Table 1.

Comparative analysis of a donor-derived platelet product and a potential, non-donor derived platelet product.

Feature	Donor-derived platelets	Non-donor derived platelets
Platelet availability:	Limited by availability of donors. Limited availability of appropriate HLA-matched donors.	Unlimited availability of universal applicable platelets.
Platelet yield:	Target: 3×1011 platelets per unit. Significant variation per unit.	Unlimited and consistent number of platelets per unit.
Platelet reactivity:	Significant variation per unit.	Consistent agonist responsiveness of each unit.
Platelet half-life:	Significant variation per unit.	Consistent half-life of each platelet unit with anticipated longer half-life due to the young average platelet age.
Infectious concerns with platelets:	Bacterial contamination risk of ~1:50,000 units infused. Concerns of known and unknown infections transmitted from donor.	Less shelf storage time, less bacterial contamination concerns likely. Likely low to no risk of novel infections from cell line.
Tumorigenesis/graft versus host (GVHD) risk:	Not a known cause of tumorigenesis. Irradiated units or leukocyte-reduced units have decreased GVHD risk.	Concern over remaining embryonic stem cells in preparation may necessitate product irradiation.
Corrected platelet defect:	Not applicable.	Individualized medicine providing corrected platelets for an inherited defect.
Novel therapeutic applications:	Not applicable.	Platelets can be altered to provide targeted therapy via platelets of hemostatic or fibrinolytic or anti- angiogenic value, for example.
Cost per unit:	Volunteered platelets which limits expense to processing and distribution costs.	Likely to be high secondary to the costs of growing megakaryocytes and isolating final products.