FDA Halts Approval For Plasma COVID Treatment

The New York Times reports:

Last week, just as the Food and Drug Administration was preparing to issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a Covid-19 treatment, a group of top federal health officials including Dr. Francis S. Collins and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci intervened, arguing that emerging data on the treatment was too weak.

The authorization is on hold for now as more data is reviewed, according to H. Clifford Lane, the clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. An emergency approval could still be issued in the near future, he said.

Donated by people who have survived the disease, antibody-rich plasma is considered safe. President Trump has hailed it as a “beautiful ingredient” in the veins of people who have survived Covid-19. But clinical trials have not proved whether plasma can help people fighting the coronavirus.

Read the full article.

FDA’s emergency approval of blood plasma as COVID-19 treatment on hold: NYT https://t.co/1NLyIeDLhh

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