Does Convalescent Plasma Therapy Help In COVID-19 Recovery? NIH Study Says 'It Does Not'

by Vandana Singh, Benzinga Editor
August 19, 2021 8:05 AM | 2 min read |
  • Formal conclusions from the NIH-funded trial of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma in Outpatients (C3PO) demonstrate that COVID-19 convalescent plasma did not prevent disease progression in a high-risk group of outpatients. 
  • The final results from the trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
  • The trial enrolled 511 patients, randomized to receive either plasma or placebo within one week after the onset of symptoms, and found similarities between the two groups. 
  • COVID-19 progression occurred in 77 patients (30%) in the convalescent plasma group and 81 patients (31.9%) in the placebo group. 
  • Five patients in the plasma group and one patient in the placebo group died. 
  • Earlier this year, the trial was stopped due to a lack of efficacy seen in a planned interim analysis.
  • “We were hoping that the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma would achieve at least a 10% reduction in disease progression in this group, but instead the reduction we observed was less than 2%,” Clifton Callaway, the contact principal investigator for the trial and professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, said in a statement. “That was surprising to us. As physicians, we wanted this to make a big difference in reducing severe illness, and it did not.”
  • Additional studies of COVID-19 convalescent plasma are ongoing or planned in different populations, including the Pass It On trial, NIH-funded randomized trial using convalescent plasma to treat hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 infection to see if the treatment can help them recover faster. 
  • Other trials include one in outpatients recovering at home and one in individuals with a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 to see if COVID-19 convalescent plasma can prevent infection.
  • Photo by Ahmad Ardity from Pixabay
  • See also: CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: STATES WITH MOST AND FEWEST NEW COVID-19 CASES IN JULY 2020
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Posted In: BiotechNewsHealth CareGeneralBriefsCovid-19COVID-19 Coronavirusnational institute of health
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