BALTIMORE — The U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration approved a clinical trial on Friday that will allow Johns Hopkins University researchers to test a therapy for COVID-19 that uses plasma from recovering patients.
“The ability to carry out a prophylaxis trial will tell us whether plasma is effective in protecting our health care workers and first responders from COVID-19,” said Casadevall, who is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and holds joint appointments in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Currently there are no proven drug therapies or effective vaccines for treating COVID-19.
“Dr. Casadevall and his colleagues from across Johns Hopkins and partners around the nation are working with creativity and persistence to face this disease head on,” said Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels. “Arturo’s and his partners’ work reflects Johns Hopkins’ abiding commitment to collaboration and discovery that serves humanity. We are grateful for the FDA’s swift support for this life-saving work and the promise it holds for so many, particularly our frontline healthcare workers, in this extraordinary time.”
