In a development with huge ramifications regarding the treatment protocol for coronavirus infection, India has decided to remove convalescent plasma as an investigational therapy from its treatment protocol guidelines. The director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Professor Balram Bhargava, said on Tuesday that “discussions are ongoing in the national working group on Covid-19 for the removal of plasma therapy from the guidelines of national treatment “.
This is a major setback given the fact that states relied heavily on plasma therapy in the case of seriously ill Covid-19 patients. The governments of the states and territories of the Union such as the political administration led by the Delhi AAP had touted this as an effective strategy against Covid-19. “Plasma donation” campaigns and plasma blood banks were promoted in the national capital and elsewhere with anecdotal evidence suggesting they were saving lives.
In April, the Union government had opined that convalescent plasma therapy can create life-threatening complications in a Covid-19 patient and is still experimental. The undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Lav Agarwal, went so far as to say that the use of this therapy is “illegal” unless the medical facility that administers it is part of a study being carried out by the ICMR.
A study conducted by ICMR showed that the therapy did not benefit coronavirus patients. This was the largest trial conducted in 39 hospitals in India, spearheaded by the ICMR. It took place between April and July and recruited 464 hospitalized patients with moderate Covid-19 and administered convalescent plasma. In this case, the plasma was antibodies derived from plasma filtered from the blood of those who had recovered from the coronavirus. This study involved 464 patients and 350 physicians.
In a previous press conference, Professor Bhargava had said that the study did not show any benefit in mortality in moderate to severe cases of Covid-19. “It also did not stop the progression of Covid-19 from moderate to severe,” he had said.
The ICMR may see an alternative in horse serum, which contains antibodies against Covid-19, as a potential alternative to plasma therapy. This is being done in collaboration with the Biological E.
The government’s decision to scrap plasma therapy also comes at a time when there is a rethinking of Remdesivir. Solidarity trials conducted by the WHO, in which India participated, showed that Remdesivir was not effective in reducing mortality in Covid-19 patients. India said Tuesday that the results of the solidarity test are tentative, not peer-reviewed.
“The debate and discussion are ongoing and we will consider the results of these trials,” said Professor Bhargava.
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