LONDON (Reuters) – An international study to test convalescent blood plasma in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 has stopped enrolling patients with COVID-19 who are in serious need of intensive care after finding no benefit. study investigators.
The decision of the leaders of the REMAP-CAP study came after an initial analysis of more than 900 participants in the study seriously ill in intensive care showed that treatment with the product – a plasma rich in antibodies taken from people recovering from pandemic disease – do not improve the results.
“There was no evidence of injury associated with convalescent plasma administration” (and) the study continues to recruit patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who are moderately ill but not in intensive care, said the scientists leading the study. in a statement.
“It is biologically plausible that patients who do not produce antibodies during convalescent plasma therapy and those patients with excess virus benefit more than others. Our further analysis will explore this, ”said Manu Shankar-Hari, a clinician and professor of critical care medicine at British Hospital Guy and St Thomas, who is co-leading the process.
He added that the initial analysis did not assess the effects of plasma in hospitalized patients with less severe disease. This “remains a very important question” and will continue to be explored in the ongoing process, he said.
The hypothesis behind the use of convalescent plasma as a potential treatment for patients with COVID-19 is that the antibodies it contains could neutralize the virus, stopping it from replicating and stopping tissue damage.
But this initial analysis, which led to the REMAP-CAP break in enrolling critically ill patients, showed that there was a very low probability – 2.2% – that it reduced death rates or reduced the number of days patients needed. intensive care.
Why plasma convalescence does not appear to improve outcome in patients with severe COVID-19 hospitalization at the ICU is not yet known. However, it may be that the lung lesions are too advanced for convalescent plasma to make a difference, ”said Alexis Turgeon, a critical care physician and professor at Laval University in Canada who also works on the process.
REMAP-CAP is an international clinical study exploring potential treatments for COVID-19. It has already recruited 4,100 patients with COVID-19 at more than 290 clinical locations in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.
Separate findings from REMAP-CAP showed last week that treating COVID-19 patients with Roche’s Actemra or Kevzara Sanofi arthritis medications significantly improved survival rates and reduced the time patients needed intensive care.
The study also looks at the potential effects of a number of other existing therapies, including anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, antibiotics, statins and vitamin C.
Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Nick Macfie