Antibody Trials For 5,000 In Race To Defeat The Bug

Five thousand seriously ill coronavirus patients could soon be offered plasma transfusions after the Government approved tests of a potential treatment.

- Hanna Geissler

The clinical trial will determine whether antibodies from the blood of survivors could help sufferers.

Meanwhile, the NHS will scale up a national plasma collection programme so it is ready to be rolled out if the trial is a success.

The first donations have been collected and test transfusions will begin before the end of the month.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Thousands could potentially benefit from it.”

Convalescent plasma was an effective treatment during the SARS outbreak two decades ago.

It involves transferring antibodies in the plasma of people who recovered from the virus at least 28 days ago to current patients to help them fight infection.