2022 News
As COVID Treatments Dwindle, Are New Ones Waiting in the Wings?
December 12, 2022
"Others suggest it's time to resurrect interest in convalescent plasma, a treatment used early in the pandemic before drugs or vaccines were here and still authorized for use in those who are immunosuppressed or receiving immunosuppressive treatment."
CCPP Leadership Group additional thoughts on Sullivan et al., 2022, and commenting editorial
June 24, 2022
The Sullivan et al trial was published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in April 2022. The editorial found here prompted the CCPP19 Leadership Group to write to NEJM. The unpublished letter written by Dr. Henderson can be found here.
COVID Convalescent Plasma Finds a Therapeutic Role
June 20, 2022
"Growing evidence shows benefits in the immunocompromised."
Arturo Casadevall, a member of the CCPP19 leadership team has been elected to the National Academy of Science
May 23, 2022
"Arturo Casadevall, MD, PhD, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, and Alfred and Jill Sommer Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of his furthering the understanding of fungal pathogenesis. Congratulations, Arturo!"
How the Food and Drug Administration saved thousands of lives
May 23, 2022
Drs. Arturo Casadevall and Nigel Paneth speak on the FDA's decision to make convalescent plasma accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Convalescent plasmas donors show enhanced cross-reactive neutralizing antibody response to antigenic variants of SARS-CoV-2 following immunization
May 20, 2022
The above paper shows that hybrid "VaxPlasma" from donors who have been vaccinated & recovered from infection can be very high titer and neutralize a wide variety of variants. It also links commercial assay values to in vitro neutralization data.
Letter to WHO asking for revisions to CCP recommendation
April 29, 2022
A link to sign the letter online can be found here.
Early Outpatient Treatment for Covid-19 with Convalescent Plasma
April 19, 2022
David Sullivan and Johns Hopkins colleagues (NEJM March 30, 2022) conducted a randomized trial of over 1,000 adults of all ages and risk levels and showed that outpatient treatment within 9 days of symptom onset with high antibody titer convalescent plasma reduced hospitalizations by more than 50%. If treatment was provided within 5 days of symptom onset, progression to more severe disease was reduced by 80%. This research highlights the value of early high-dose outpatient treatment with convalescent plasma as the place to start therapies in a new pandemic.
Latest update of convalescent plasma efficacy from Drs. Joyner and Casadevall prepared for Rita Reik, MD, Chief Medical Officer for One Blood.
April 15, 2022
Recommendation for Convalescent Plasma from the IDSA
February 9, 2022
“The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) has revised its recommendation on convalescent plasma to recommend outpatient use of high-titer convalescent early in the illness for high-risk patients with no other therapeutic options.”
Critique of World Health Organization Statement on Convalescent Plasma
February 9, 2022
On December 13, 2021, The World Health Organization (WHO) released new advice on convalescent plasma treatment. Dr. Arturo Casadevall's critique of the WHO advice can be found here. The CCPP19 Leadership group has responded to the WHO recommendation on convalescent plasma in COVID-19. The critique is posted here.
The European Blood Alliance has issued two critiques of the WHO advice, which can be found here and here.
COVID treatment warrants fresh look
February 6, 2022
"Klobuchar, other state leaders should heed the call for help on convalescent plasma."
Tool Pinpoints Who May Benefit From COVID Convalescent Plasma
January 26, 2022
"While a large meta-analysis of studies on convalescent plasma use early in the pandemic turned up no survival advantage for the typical patient hospitalized for COVID-19, researchers have mined the dataset to predict who may benefit."
Early Use of Convalescent Plasma May Help Outpatients with COVID-19 Avoid Hospitalization
January 5, 2022
"Eventually, we hope that our data will guide clinicians in how to effectively use high-titer convalescent plasma as an early outpatient treatment, especially regarding timing and dosage."
America's Blood Centers (ABC) Statement on Convalescent Plasma in COVID-19
January 5, 2022
ABC issues a statment supporting use of convalescent plasma in COVID-19, but acknowledges operational difficulties.