Report: Plasma Therapy Showing ‘Excellent’ Results Against Coronavirus
According to Columbia University Center for Infection and Immunity’s Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, dubbed the “Virus Hunter,” plasma therapy has been working very well against novel coronavirus, and is expected to be available to the public in four weeks.
A paper set to come out soon in “a very prominent medical journal,” shows “ten out of ten patients treated with plasma from patients who’ve recovered from COVID-19 had excellent results,” Dr. Lipkin told Fox Business host Melisa Francis on Thursday.
“This is the first news, not the last, by any means, that suggests that there may be a therapy that’s very useful” to fight against the virus, the doctor added.
Dr. Lipkin told Francis that “we could have treatments in four weeks that could begin to save lives.”
“We’re gonna have to get approval through the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and we’re gonna have to get approval of institutional review boards associated with our individual institutions” before such treatments hit the public, the doctor said, adding that he’s “confident” that it will get done.
On the same day Dr. Lipkin announced the prospect of plasma therapy to fight COVID-19, Sunnybrook Research Institute said their collaborative team of Canadian researchers successfully isolated the agent behind the novel coronavirus.
The institution noted that the development “will help researchers in Canada and across the world develop better diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines, and gain a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 biology, evolution and clinical shedding.”
Sunnybrook microbiologist and infectious diseases physician Dr. Samira Mubarek, a member of the critical research team, said that the global community needs “key tools to develop solutions to this pandemic.”
“While the immediate response is crucial, longer-term solutions come from essential research into this novel virus,” Dr. Mubarek emphasized.
“Now that we have isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we can share this with other researchers and continue this teamwork,” added Dr. Arinjay Banerjee, a NSERC post-doctoral fellow at McMaster University. “The more viruses that are made available in this way, the more we can learn, collaborate and share.”
At a press conference on Friday, President Donald Trump officially declared a national emergency over the spread of COVID-19, unlocking $50 billion to address the virus.
“We’re taking several decisive new actions in our very vigilant effort to combat and ultimately defeat the coronavirus,” Trump said, The Daily Wire reported. “We had some very old and obsolete rules that we had to live with that worked under certain circumstances but not under mass circumstances. They were in place a long time and we’re breaking them down now, and they’re very usable for certain instances, but not for this.”
“To unleash the full power of the federal government under this effort, I’m officially declaring a national emergency,” the president announced. “The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.”
To watch the report, click here.
