BENGALURU: Even as the clinical trials for Phase 1 and 2 of the convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) for treating severely ill Covid-19 patients is under way in India, Dr US Vishal Rao, noted oncologist, has proposed to the state government to consider and plan for a plasma bank for CPT in the State. In April, he was granted permission by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation to conduct Phase 1 and 2 of clinical trials of CPT for severely ill Covid-19 patients in Karnataka in collaboration with the Victoria Hospital – a premium government super speciality hospital.
“We need to hasten clinical research for the current Covid crisis. Since we don’t know much about this virus and in the armamentarium against treatment, plasma therapy is the only effective one known from historical data. A bank of plasma donated by recovered patients is an absolute necessity to treat severely ill patients. I have proposed to the government to consider setting up a plasma bank in Karnataka,” Dr Rao told The New Indian Express. But setting up a plasma bank is not that easy either considering India is still in the midst of Phase 1 and 2 of clinical trials of CPT.
“As per our clinical trial in Karnataka we need to complete 10 infusions of CPT on severely ill patients and compare the data with 10 other Covid- patients, who are being treated in the normal routine. So far we have done two infusions in Karnataka, out of which we unfortunately lost one patient,” said Dr Sachin Jadhav, group head of Haematology and bone marrow transplant, HCG Group of Hospitals. He added that for setting up the plasma bank for CPT, the government will need “an inventory or data base of Covid-19 recovered patients.
Recovery is defined, when two PCR tests conducted in a span of a week’s time turn negative for the patient. These recovered patients should have neutralising antibodies in their immune system to neutralise the virus,” explained Dr Jadhav. He said that for the plasma bank for CPT, we need to have enough number of donors of each blood group. In Karnataka three donors have donated their plasma for CPT. Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials are being conducted parallelly with the Indian Council of Medical Research.