Two flagship, NIHR-supported studies - REMAP-CAP and RECOVERY - which have been supported in NI by the NI Clinical Research Network, have found no evidence of benefit from convalescent plasma as a treatment for hospitalised patients with COVID-19.
Click here to read the full press release from NIHR
Professor Nick Lemoine, Medical Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network said: “Despite the negative convalescent plasma results from RECOVERY and REMAP-CAP, both studies demonstrate the huge importance of randomised clinical trials. Convalescent plasma was once widely considered a therapeutic option with a high potential for treating Covid-19 - yet NIHR-supported research has shown plasma transfusion to be ineffective overall. While disappointing, data from these vital studies will allow clinicians the world over to focus treatment decisions on proven therapeutic options.
“We want to say an enormous thank you to everyone who has taken part in these urgent public health studies - as well as to all those who have so kindly donated their blood plasma through NHS Blood and Transplant, having had this dreadful disease.”