Pathogen-inactivated red blood cell compositions

1. A composition comprising: (i) red blood cells, (ii) a quencher at a concentration of less than about 10 mM, and (iii) a final additive solution, wherein the composition is produced by a method of reducing dehydration of the red blood cells, wherein the method of reducing dehydration of the red blood cells comprises:

(I) providing a mixture comprising: (a) the quencher, wherein the quencher is capable of reacting with a pathogen-inactivating compound, (b) about 0.5 to 1.5 equivalents of base, wherein an equivalent means a molar amount that is equivalent to the molar amount of quencher in the mixture, (c) the red blood cells, and (d) a treatment solution or diluent solution; wherein the treatment solution or diluent solution comprises one or more of dextrose, adenine, mannitol, citrate, and citric acid; and wherein the mixture comprises between about 40 mM and 100 mM chloride ion; and

(II) replacing the solution in the mixture of step (I) with the final additive solution, such that the concentration of the quencher in the mixture is decreased to less than about 10 mM;

wherein the level of dehydration of the red blood cells is decreased relative to the level of dehydration of red blood cells in a composition comprising a mixture of (a), (c), (d), and 2.0 or greater equivalents of base and in which the solution in the mixture comprising (a), (c), (d), and 2.0 or greater equivalents of base has not been replaced with a final additive solution.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the quencher comprises cysteine or a derivative of cysteine.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the quencher is glutathione or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the quencher is glutathione monosodium salt.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the quencher is less than about 8 mM.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the quencher is less than about 6 mM.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have less than 1% hemolysis.

8. The composition of claim 7 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have less than 1% hemolysis at a time of 42 days at 4° C.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have a Packed Cell Volume of greater than 50%.

10. The composition of claim 9 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have a Packed Cell Volume of greater than 50% at a time of 42 days at 4° C.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have a Median Corpuscular Fragility value greater than 140 after 42 days at 4° C.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have a Median Corpuscular Fragility value greater than 150 after 28 days at 4° C.

13. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the treatment solution or diluent solution further comprises one or more of phosphate and chloride.

14. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the final additive solution comprises one or more of dextrose, sodium chloride, adenine, guanosine, glucose, citrate, citric acid, phosphate, and mannitol.

15. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the final additive solution is selected from the group consisting of AS-1, AS-3, SAG-M, Erythrosol, AS-5, PAGGS-M, and MAP.

16. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the base is NaOH.

17. The composition of claim 1 , wherein replacing the solution in the mixture with a final additive solution comprises centrifugation of the mixture followed by removal of the supernatant of the mixture.

18. The composition of claim 1 , wherein replacing the solution in the mixture of step (I) with the final additive solution comprises size-exclusion separation.

19. The composition of claim 1 , wherein replacing the solution in the mixture of step (I) with the final additive solution comprises use of expression devices.

20. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have an average anti-pathogen inactivating compound antibody binding capacity (ABC) of less than about 50,000.

21. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have an average anti-pathogen inactivating compound antibody binding capacity (ABC) of between about 25,000 and 70,000.

22. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the red blood cells of the composition have an average anti-pathogen inactivating compound antibody binding capacity (ABC) of between about 35,000 and 45,000.