21 hospitals had been finalized by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to initiate clinical trials for convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the cured patient’s blood, to treat critically ill coronavirus patients. Many of these hospitals chosen are in Maharashtra.

ICMR has selected 5 hospitals in Maharashtra, 4 hospitals in Gujarat, 2 hospitals each in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and one hospital each in Punjab, Karnataka, Telangana and Chandigarh to initiate the clinical trials. The plasma therapy includes drawing out whole blood from a COVID-19 recovered patient and separating the plasma. Around 400 ml plasma is drawn out from one person and can be used to treat two patients.

Out of the 5 hospitals in Maharashtra, 2 are in Pune, 1 in Mumbai, 1 in Nagpur and 1 in Kolhapur. Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre of Mumbai are been chosen for these trials. The multi-centre trials are to be conducted on 452 patients across centers.

The project of ICMR’s is named as PLACID - ‘Phase-II Open Label Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Convalescent Plasma to Limit COVID-19 Associated Complications in Moderate Disease’. The study has already received approval from the COVID-19 National Ethics Committee (CONEC) last week.

Approximately 90 hospitals that includes 7 in Delhi, are under consideration for partaking in the clinical trials. Hospitals in Delhi that are waiting for approval are: AIIMS, Indraprastha Apollo, Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Lady Hardinge Medical College, RML Hospital, Max Hospital-Saket and Indian Red Cross Society.

On 29th April, the health ministry had labelled as “illegal” of any use of the therapy beyond clinical trials. It also said that the therapy might create life threatening conditions. Plasma therapy was used during the SARS outbreak on critically ill patients. The therapy worked as a passive immunity system.

Source: ET Healthworld