Trump-touted plasma therapy would have no benefits | WORLD

A large national study in the United Kingdom evaluating convalescent plasma as therapy against COVID-19 had to be completed after concluding that the treatment promoted by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, does not work.

The research from the University of Oxford was part of a clinical trial called Recovery that investigates different treatments against COVID-19.

The only branch of the study that has been suspended is one investigating the efficacy of a therapy that uses plasma from people who have recovered from the virus. A monitoring panel concluded that it was pointless to continue, the university said in a statement.

The decision was made after more than 100,000 Americans were treated with convalescent plasma after its use for emergency cases was authorized by US regulators. Trump commented in August that “would save countless lives”.

“Convalescent plasma has been widely used as a treatment against COVID-19, but to date there has been no convincing evidence of the effect of convalescent plasma on clinical outcomes of hospitalized patients with COVID-19”According to the statement.

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is leading a convalescent plasma investigation in that country, but expectations are low at best.

Trump and Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for its acronym in English) held a press conference in August announcing that the FDA would authorize the use of convalescent plasma in an emergency against COVID-19, although the evidence of its effectiveness was poor.

Trump he widely promoted the therapy, while Hahn exaggerated its benefit in comments that he had to withdraw shortly after.

Peter Horby, one of Recovery’s principal investigators, said that some subgroups of patients may still benefit from convalescent plasma.

“Although the overall result is negative, we must await full results before we can understand whether convalescent plasma plays a role in specific patient subgroups.Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University, said in the statement.