BARDA, America's Blood Centers target COVID-19 convalescent plasma

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is supporting America’s Blood Centers in coordinating the collection and distribution of convalescent plasma for therapeutic use in treating patients who have been hospitalized with COVID-19.

Convalescent plasma, collected from patients who have recovered from COVID-19, has the potential to be one of the first therapeutics in use on the front lines. It may contain antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).

The use of convalescent plasma has been studied in outbreaks of other respiratory infections, including the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, 2003 SARS-CoV-1 epidemic, and the 2012 MERS-CoV epidemic. Although preliminary studies completed in China are promising, convalescent plasma has not been shown to be effective in every disease studied and additional studies are needed to show whether convalescent plasma is an effective treatment for COVID-19.

America's Blood Centers is North America's largest network of non-profit blood centers. Comprising 600 donor centers in 45 states and the Canadian province of Quebec, America's Blood Centers' members supply blood products and services to more than 3,500 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America.

BARDA and America’s Blood Centers are working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is coordinating across the U.S. government on a unified effort to collect convalescent plasma for use as a treatment for COVID-19 patients and in clinical trials.

Read more: https://medicalcountermeasures.gov/newsroom/2020/americas-blood-centers/