This archive report was first published on 24 August 2020.
On August 23, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) granted emergency approval for the expanded use of convalescent plasma to treat hospitalized coronavirus patients. This decision comes after President Trump had been pressuring the agency to move faster in addressing the pandemic.
President Trump cited the approval as welcome news in the fight against COVID-19, which has led to 176,000 deaths in the United States and left the nation lagging behind most others in its response. He described the treatment as 'a powerful therapy' made possible by 'marshaling the full power of the federal government.'
The F.D.A. decision will broaden the use of a treatment that has already been administered to over 70,000 patients. However, the agency cited benefits for only some patients, and unlike a new drug, plasma cannot be manufactured in millions of doses; its availability is limited by blood donations.
President Trump urged everyone who has recovered from the virus to donate plasma, saying there is a nationwide campaign to collect it. The F.D.A. said the data it had so far showed that 'it is reasonable to believe' that the treatment 'may be effective in lessening the severity or shortening the length of Covid-19 illness in some hospitalized patients.'
According to Dr. Peter Marks, the director of F.D.A.'s center for biologics, evaluation and research, patients less than 80 years old who received plasma with a high level of virus-fighting antibodies within three days of diagnosis were about 35 percent more likely to be alive a month later compared with those who received plasma with a low level of the antibodies.
