It is one of the hopes against the coronavirus. Already tested in a clinical trial in France since early April, plasma transfusion of cured patients to treat patients seriously affected by Covid-19 has been authorized since Thursday by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM ). "Exceptional and temporary use given the potential severity of the disease and in order to increase the chances of survival of patients with a severe form," she said.
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"As soon as there is the possibility of giving access, we should start"
A decision welcomed by the director of blood products at the ANSM, Lofti Boudali, for whom it was necessary to give the green light without delay. "We did not want to reasonably wait until we had all the results of the trial, or even that we had enough plasma for all the territories before going there. As soon as there is the possibility of giving access , we had to put ourselves in a position to be able to start "he explains at the microphone of Europe 1." We are treating to hope to improve and get patients out [of the hospital or resuscitation, note]. last chance treatment, you shouldn't see it that way. "
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Treatment on a limited number of patients
But the transfusion will not be done in all patients with a severe form, it must be carried out in "a limited number of particular situations, which must be the subject of a collegial medical decision at the level of the unit. care where the patient is taken care of ", points out the ANSM. However, this decision made it possible to transfuse patients who could not join the French Coviplasm trial.
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A method already tested by several countries
If scientific proof of the effectiveness of this transfusion is still lacking, something Coviplasm must bring, feedback from the field gives encouraging results. This is particularly the case in China, where two studies have highlighted an improvement in the clinical condition of transfused patients. The treatment also brings hope across the Atlantic, since the American drug agency also gave the green light to test it in the United States, the country most bereaved in the world by the coronavirus.