Racing against time, medical researchers, life science companies and COVID-19 survivors launch national campaign to drive plasma donation
"The Fight Is In Us" campaign seeks to mobilize COVID-19 survivors to accelerate the development of potentially lifesaving therapies [ROCHESTER, Minn.] - May 26, 2020 - A coalition of world-leading medical and research institutions, blood centers, life science companies, technology companies, philanthropic organizations, and COVID-19 survivor groups has come together to support the rapid development of potential new therapies for patients with COVID-19.
A coalition of leading medical and research institutions, blood centers, and interested science and technology have come together under the “The Fight Is In Us” campaign to support the rapid development of potential new therapies for Covid-19 patients. The coalition is focusing on mobilizing support for recovered Covid-19 patients in the U.S. to donate their blood plasma, which contains vital antibodies that have successfully fought off the disease and could now help others do the same. Considering blood plasma is not timeless, the campaign aims to recruit Covid-19 survivors within two months of recovery to ensure that their blood plasma contains a robust enough concentration of antibodies to have a positive effect. The campaign also hopes to mobilize this effort in time to combat the substantial seasonal increase in Covid-19 cases anticipated this fall in the Northern Hemisphere. This increase is anticipated by the Centers for Disease Control and other public health officials. Members of the coalition are currently focusing on two treatment approaches for Covid-19 that both urgently require the collection of convalescent plasma. The first approach is the direct transfusion of blood plasma through the Expanded Access Program for convalescent plasma, which is currently being administered with authorization from the Food and Drug Administration by Mayo Clinic. The second approach focuses on the development of a medicine known as a hyperimmune globulin (H-Ig), which is being manufactured now and will be studied in clinical trials this summer.
