Plasma firm builds market share through acquisitions. (Up Front).

Glendale-based pharmaceutical company ZLB Bioplasma has signed a $30 million deal with the Purchasing Alliance for Clinical Therapeutics (PACT) to supply blood to its hospitals, pharmacies and clinics.

The contract with PACT, a unit of San Francisco-based McKesson Health Systems Inc., will supply Albumin, or human plasma used to treat patients suffering from blood depletion, and Immune Globulin Intravenous, or WIG.

IVIG is a highly purified plasma-derived product given to patients who have depleted levels of immunoglobulin, an infection-fighting substance in the blood.

Steve Kastendieck, director of contracting operations for PACT, said the deal allows his firm to have a steady supply of blood and blood-related products at reasonable prices.

"The importance of this contract is that there is a high demand for products and sometimes they are not readily available," said ZLB President Pete DeHart. "This gives a steady flow of product from us to our customers."

The deal with PACT came after ZLB signed similar deals with Houston-based U.S. Oncology Inc. in February, for an undisclosed amount, and a $40 million pact with Texas-based health care supplier Novation LLC in November.

A unit of Australian pharmaceutical company, CSL Limited, ZLB has gained a foothold in the American market with its rapid growth and increasing market share over the last two years. It also operates a separate unit in Switzerland to serve Europe.

During 2001, ZLB grossed about $200 million in the U.S. with revenue this year expected to top $300 million.

"For us, the market has been growing because people become ill and these products are life-saving products that people need. You don't have these downturns of other industries," DeHart said.

In September, the company paid $152 million for 47 plasma collection centers and a testing laboratory in Miami, Fin. The deal immediately turned ZLB into a major blood supplier to hospitals throughout the U.S.

Dr. Ross Herron, medical director of the American Red Cross Blood Services in Los Angeles, said acquisitions have turned ZLB into a major player in the blood plasma field.

"Anytime you can make major purchases like (acquiring 47 donor centers), you're going to become a force in the field," he said. "There is always a high demand for Albumin and WIG, especially over the last few years."

The Red Cross currently has a contract with ZLB for blood plasma products.

The company's growth has given longtime plasma suppliers Baxter BioScience, Bayer Corp. and the American Red Cross an instant competitor in the market.

ZLB's aggressive marketing efforts netted it a number of contracts that assured several pharmacy chains and hospital networks were locked into agreements to purchase plasma from ZLB for several years, De Hart said.

"We have a critical force of people who have experience in the field, and it's a big plus for us because people like to depend on those they trust and have experience," DeHart said.

"We've been able to capture anywhere from 13 to 18 percent of the market so far, and that figure is growing," DeHart said.

Herron said contracts to supply blood to hospitals are an important way to assure blood is available when needed. Blood has a shelf life of only 42 days, thus supplies often run short at hospitals, he added.

It was just in August 2000 that the company opened its headquarters in a 10,000-square-foot building on North Brand Boulevard in Glendale.