Israeli company announces successful trials of plasma-based COVID-19 drug

(MENAFN - Trend News Agency) The Israeli biopharmaceutical company Kamada announced on Wednesday that it has successfully tested a plasma-derived treatment for COVID-19, Trend reports citing Xinhua. The treatment is based on antibodies that were isolated and purified from the plasma donated by recovered COVID-19 patients, who developed a high level of antibodies against the virus. "The product demonstrated a favorable safety profile, and there were no infusion-related reactions or adverse events considered related to the tested drug," the company said. Kamada added that the product has multiple advantages over convalescent plasma transfusion, such as standardized antibody levels, higher potency with better consistency, and higher antibody repertoire. It also potentially includes antibodies for different variants of the virus, because the plasma is pooled from multiple donors who were infected in various geographical regions. Other comparative benefits, according to Kamada, include extensive viral inactivation processing, absence of a blood-type matching requirement, smaller infusion volumes, ability to be produced in large quantities, longer shelf life, and preferred storage conditions. At the same time, a multi-center clinical study is being conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Health to examine Kamada's product, with the participation of more than 100 coronavirus patients in moderate and severe conditions. MENAFN31032021000187011040ID1101841794