Convalescent plasma from a recovered coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is seen at Bloodworks Northwest’s Seattle Central Donor Center during the outbreak in Seattle, Washington, on April 17, 2020.
Lindsey Wasson | Reuters
The National Institutes of Health said Tuesday it stopped a trial of convalescent plasma tests in patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms after an independent panel of experts concluded it was unlikely to be beneficial.
The independent data control and safety board met on Feb. 25 to review the data and determined that while plasma treatment did not cause harm, it is unlikely to benefit this group of patients, the NIH said. in a statement. After the meeting, the DSMB recommended that the NIH stop enrolling new patients in the study, the agency said.
Scientists and public health officials had previously said skeptical convalescent plasma was an effective treatment for patients with Covid, even after the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for treatment. in August and former President Donald Trump declared it an “advance.”
At the time, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, said the treatment could help patients, but “it doesn’t look like a homemade one.” He agreed that convalescent plasma “certainly” met the standard for emergency approval “in the event of a public health emergency.”
Plasma, which is extracted from patients who have recovered from Covid-19 and developed antibodies to the virus, is infused into sick patients. Scientists had hoped it would help start the immune system in those patients to fight the virus.
In January, REMAP-CAP, an international clinical trial exploring possible treatments for Covid, stopped its study by testing convalescent blood plasma after researchers in the trial found no benefit. The REMAP-CAP decision came after an initial analysis of more than 900 participants in intensive trials with severe trials that showed that treatment with the product did not significantly improve patient health.
The NIH trial was conducted in 47 U.S. hospital emergency departments and had enrolled 511 of the 900 participant recruitment targets. After study participants received plasma or a placebo, the researchers tracked whether participants needed more urgent or urgent care, were hospitalized, or died within 15 days of treatment. ‘to have entered the trial.