Patent ID: 7811558

Claim:
A method of treating bleeding in a subject suffering from bleeding, said method comprising administering a composition comprising freeze-dried platelets to the subject, wherein the amount of platelets administered to the subject is sufficient to treat the bleeding, and wherein the freeze-dried platelets are produced by a process consisting essentially of: obtaining platelet rich plasma, adding acid citrate dextrose to obtain a pH of about 6.8 in the platelet rich plasma, centrifuging the platelet rich plasma to obtain a platelet pellet and platelet poor plasma, isolating the platelet pellet from the platelet poor plasma, suspending the isolated platelet pellet in a divalent cation free buffer comprising about 5.0 mM glucose, about 50 mM trehalose at about pH 6.8, incubating the suspension for about 2 hours at about 37° C., adding albumin or Ficoll® to the suspension to a final concentration of about 5% w/v, lyophilizing the suspension without immersing the suspension in liquid nitrogen, and wherein the process does not include contacting the platelets with a platelet inhibitor.