@JohnsHopkins has launched two clinical trials on convalescent blood plasma treatment for COVID-19. The treatment is a transfusion of plasma containing antibodies from COVID-19 survivors that can help a patient’s immune system fight the virus.

This “crowdsourcing” of antibodies made by COVID-19 survivors is being tested for two uses: the first as a treatment to help prevent severe disease, hospitalization, and death in patients who are already ill with COVID-19. The second is as a post-exposure prophylaxis which is administered to people who have been exposed to COVID-19 but are not yet showing symptoms to try and prevent infection from taking root. With this form of “passive immunization,” one donor can help save at least 10 people’s lives.

In this video, Dr. Shmuel Shoham from @JohnsHopkinsMedicine and Dr. David Sullivan from the @JohnsHopkinsSPH discuss the two trials and their potential applications. They are leading this effort along with colleagues Dr. Arturo Casadevall and Dr. Daniel Hanley.

Johns Hopkins researchers have received $35 million in funding from the @DeptofDefense (DOD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), on behalf of the Defense Health Agency, for two nationwide clinical trials to test the effectiveness of a convalescent blood plasma outpatient treatment. The treatment is a transfusion of a blood product from COVID-19 survivors that contains antibodies that may help the patient’s immune system fight the virus. Johns Hopkins research into convalescent blood plasma therapy was previously funded by $3 million from a @BloombergDotOrg gift and $1 million from the state of Maryland.

The randomized double blind trials totaling 1,100 people will be conducted at over 20 ambulatory clinics in medical centers across the U.S., including the Navajo Nation, and will help researchers determine whether convalescent blood plasma therapy can effectively be used to treat people in the early stage of COVID-19 illness or prevent the infection in those at high risk of exposure to the virus at their home or jobs. Currently, there are no FDA-approved vaccines to prevent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease, nor approved treatments for the illness in its earliest stage. There are also no outpatient therapies to prevent hospitalization or death.

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