Dixon, Calif. — Two major blood banks have merged and now service more than 65 percent of all veterinary transfusion needs in the United States. 

The Animal Blood Bank Inc. and Midwest Animal Blood Services Inc. are doing business as Animal Blood Resources International. The newly formed company, headquartered in Dixon, Calif., also operates out of a Stockbridge, Mich., facility.

The deal, cemented June 1, brings Midwest’s high-tech products to the Animal Blood Bank, known as the the nation’s biggest seller of plasma, red cells, whole blood and supplies.  

“The combined resources of both companies will provide the intellectual property necessary to bring a new and innovative line of transfusion products to the worldwide market,” company officials say.

Those products, scheduled for launch in September at the International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Symposium, feature a HemaGold line that will include lyophilized cryoprecipitate, lyophilized platelets and albumin for multiple species. Peripheral blood stem cells and cord stems cells in a cryopreserved state also will be available, officials add.

Dr. Anne Hale, former Midwest head, now serves as the company’s chief executive officer. Animal Blood Bank founder Pat Kaufman serves as the new company’s creative development director.  

For more information, call (800) 243-5759 or e-mail info@animalbloodbank.com.