The Coviplasm Coronavirus Trial: The New Hope

To date, there is no treatment capable of fighting COVID-19, but worldwide, clinical trials are linked. Scientists are constantly researching and testing to test potential treatments. The epidemic, which has spread all over the world, has killed more than 50,000 people in Europe since the start of 2020. In France, people who have died from the coronavirus since the start of the epidemic, count 8,057, including nearly 5,900 in hospital. For several weeks, the country has developed several avenues on possible treatments to defuse the virus, and, above all, to prevent the development of complications in some patients. Among the hopes of finding an effective treatment, this Tuesday, April 7, “Coviplasm” will be launched,a clinical coronavirus trial aimed at measuring the efficiency of plasma transfusion from cured patients.

"Coviplasm" coronavirus test: what is it?

The “Coviplasm” clinical trial will consist of the transfusion of plasma from patients cured of COVID-19 to others who are still ill. Plasma is a liquid component of blood that is used to transport the three main types of cells found in the blood: red blood cells, white blood cells and thrombocytes. But why a coronavirus test with plasma exactly?

The plasma of people who have recovered from the coronavirus contains the antibodies the body makes to fight infection. The hope is that this antibody-laden plasma will help patients in the acute phase of the disease to develop them through transfusion. The clinical trial will be conducted by Professor Karine Lacombe (Head of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department at Saint-Antoine Hospital) and Professor Pierre Tiberghien (from the Français du Sang establishment).

The French Blood Establishment, EFS, is preparing to launch the coronavirus trial on Tuesday, April 7. We will collect the plasma of the first patients cured of the coronavirus in three regions (Île-de-France, Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). About 200 patients who have recovered for at least 14 days are expected to collect 600 ml of plasma. This quantity will allow the availability of 600 units of 200 ml of plasma for the clinical trial. The sample will be taken by plasmapheresis. This process consists of a complete withdrawal of the blood from which the plasma will be collected, while all other blood components will be returned to the donor with a plasma substitute. The amount of plasma collected during a session, can be three to four liters.

In total, the patients counted in the clinical trial number 60. Half will benefit from the supply of convalescent plasma. Two units of plasma of 200 to 220 ml each will be transfused on day 6 of onset of clonic symptoms. If all goes well and without complications, two more units will be transfused 24 hours after the first two, or four units per patient.

The results and the evaluation are to be expected within two weeks. If the treatment is effective and without deleterious side effects, the trial could be extended to a new group of patients.

The “Coviplasm” is a comparative test of the CORIMUNO-19 platform. The latter is a larger study carried out by the AP-HP (Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris), the aim of which is the rapid and simultaneous realization of controlled controlled trials of drugs, especially immuno-modulators, in of patients infected with the coronavirus. At the same time, the EFS plans to engage in studies that will make it possible to monitor collective immunity against the COVID-19 pandemic. These studies will be in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur and the UMR IRD UVE 190 (the Emerging Viruses Unit).

Other avenues for possible treatments, which France has developed in recent weeks, include trials with chloroquine. On a global scale, it is believed to be effective against COVID-19 and clears symptoms of the virus within days. The study with chloroquine, called Hyvocovid, will be carried out on 1,300 patients over 75 years of age, who do not need respiratory assistance. Another trial, aimed at treating intubated patients, is Stroma-Cov2. It was launched on Sunday April 5 by Doctor Antoine Monsuel of the multipurpose surgical resuscitation service of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital. The trial is based on the administration of umbilical cord cells to 60 patients, the objective being to control the inflammation associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Finally,therapeutic trials are being planned with molecules derived from the hemoglobin of the sea worm. Its hemoglobin is able to provide 40 times more oxygen than human hemoglobin.