Company hopes to find coronavirus treatment with blood from former patients
Global pharmaceutical company Grifols is looking for recovered coronavirus patients to donate blood.
The company, which is based in Barcelona, Spain, has clinics in the Dallas area and across the country. It hopes to produce a treatment for COVID-19 in concert with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the US. Biomedical Advanced Research Authority and other federal health agencies, according to a release by Grifols.
The company has started identifying, screening and selecting volunteer donors.
Interested donors should call 866-363-2819 for a screening. Appropriate donors will be directed to local Gifols centers. Donors will be compensated but payment details weren’t available.
Donors must have a diagnosis made with a test (nasal swab or blood) and complete resolution of COVID-19 symptoms at least 28 days before donation, or complete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days before donation along with a negative molecular test for COVID-19. They also must meet routine eligibility criteria for plasma donation. For more details visit www.grifolsplasma.com.
The plasma will be used to produce hyperimmune globulin, which are plasma-derived medicines that can treat severe acute infections.
“For individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, donating plasma at one of Grifols’ donor centers to produce a potential treatment for the disease is a way they can help make a difference during this exceptional time,” Grifols chief medical officer, Dr. Marilyn Rosa-Bray, said in a release. “This hyperimmune globulin would offer treating physicians a predictable and consistent dosing of the antibody against the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Grifols is focused on collecting convalescent plasma from potential donors in a handful of cities that had a high number of COVID-19 cases earlier in the outbreak, including the Dallas area (including Carrollton and Victoria). Other sites are in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego and Seattle. More locations will be announced soon.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 4:47 PM.
