Convalescent Plasma for Covid-19 Drugs, Ministry of Health Conducts Phase 3 Clinical Trials

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Ministry of Health, through the Health Research and Development Agency, stated that it was conducting phase two and phase three clinical trials for therapy convalescent plasma in Covid-19 patients. Clinical trials of blood plasma donors from patients who have recovered, so it is hoped that antibodies will have formed in them, aims to determine the efficacy or benefits of this therapy.

Blood plasma researcher from the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Professor David H. Muljono, mentioned that convalescent plasma donors to Covid-19 patients have been carried out in many countries in the world. The result, he said, was proven safe.

“At the end of March, five patients were given plasma in China and proved to be effective and safe, some patients improved and could be discharged, followed by 10 people,” he said in his statement, Tuesday, September 8, 2020.

Even in some countries, David said, donated blood plasma – part of the blood that has been separated from existing cells – from recovered patients. Covid-19 those who are still seriously ill also show that therapy is safe. “As many as five thousand people are given blood plasma in America and the safety is quite good,” said David.

Convalescent plasma clinical trials that are currently being carried out in Indonesia, he explained, aim to determine its efficacy in curing patients. Limited clinical trials involve patients with moderate to severe symptoms of Covid-19 infection after the results of similar trials in the US were obtained Convalescent plasma is ineffective in critically ill patients.

To date, David explained, there are already 29 hospitals that have collaborated with the Health Research and Development Agency for this clinical trial. For the first stage, the test is carried out in four hospitals first. Blood plasma which is considered to contain antibodies to the Covid-19 corona virus is given to patients with a dose of 250 mm twice.

Patients recovering from Covid-19 donate their blood plasma at the PMI Sidoarjo Blood Transfusion Unit, East Java, Saturday, August 29, 2020. The blood plasma, which is expected to contain antibodies, will later be given to patients who are still sick (convalescent plasma). BETWEEN PHOTOS / Umarul Faruq / hp.

“The patient will be monitored for 28 days from the time of first administration, 14 days will remain monitored in the hospital and 14 days after that will be allowed to go home but still in contact with doctors and hospitals,” said David.

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In the United States, convalescent plasma has been approved by the country’s health authorities to be emergency therapy for Covid-19 patients. Even though some of the experts there are not sure about the effectiveness of this therapy.

The former commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Robert Califf, for example, said convalescent plasma recently tested in small groups of clinical trials without statistical power to provide firm conclusions. “This is a potential therapy that could be effective, and I think it is not impossible to provide it. But randomized clinical trials are the first priority,” he said.

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