News Is coronavirus a wild card?

Blood plasma shot might inoculate against coronavirus for months -- so why won’t feds test it?
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2020/07/blood-plasma-shot-might-inoculate-against-coronavirus-for-months-so-why-wont-feds-test-it.html

It might be the next best thing to a coronavirus vaccine.

Scientists have devised a way to use the antibody-rich blood plasma of COVID-19 survivors for an upper-arm injection that they say could inoculate people against the virus for months.

.... Using technology that's been proven effective in preventing other diseases such as hepatitis A, the injections would be administered to high-risk health care workers, nursing home patients, or even at public drive-through sites — potentially protecting millions of lives, the doctors and other experts say.

..... The two scientists who spearheaded the proposal — an 83-year-old shingles researcher and his counterpart, an HIV gene therapy expert — have garnered widespread support from leading blood and immunology specialists, including those at the center of the nation's COVID-19 plasma research.

..... But the idea exists only on paper. Federal officials have twice rejected requests to discuss the proposal, and pharmaceutical companies — even acknowledging the likely efficacy of the plan — have declined to design or manufacture the shots,

..... "Beyond being a lost opportunity, this is a real head-scratcher," said Dr. Michael Joyner, a Mayo Clinic researcher who leads a program sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration to capitalize on coronavirus antibodies from COVID-19 survivors. "It seems obvious."

..... The antibodies in plasma can be concentrated and delivered to patients through a type of drug called immune globulin, or Ig, which can be given through either an IV drip or a shot. Ig shots have for decades been used to prevent an array of diseases; the Ig shot that prevents hepatitis A was first licensed in 1944. They are available to treat patients who have recently been exposed to hepatitis B, tetanus, varicella and rabies.

..... The {government agency BARDA} granted $12.5 million to Grifols and $14.5 million to Emergent BioSolutions to produce plasma-based COVID-19 medicines in IV form drips, among more than 50 different biomedical partnerships to fight the pandemic. But the immunity shot proposal was rejected.

..... the (government's) strategy baffled Oxman and Zaia, who said the Ig shots are a far more efficient delivery system that can potentially reach many more people,.. What's more, prophylactic shots would probably require far fewer antibodies than IV treatments, Joyner said. With Ig shots, plasma donations could possibly go twice — or even five times — as far, he said.

..... Financial calculations may be another factor for companies. Intravenous plasma products are traditionally the main economic driver for the industry, supply experts said, in part because vaccines have replaced many short-term immunity shots over the years. The money-making antibodies are also far more diluted in IV drugs than in injectable ones, which boosts profit margins.

.... "They charge a fortune off of IV drugs in the hospital. They don't want to devote the manufacturing plant to something that won't make oodles of money," said one infectious disease expert, who has advocated for coronavirus Ig shots but asked not to be publicly identified.

..... The antibody injections, for now, do not appear to be a high priority for the government or the industry.

 

I'm still hoping there'll be baseball