Plasma-Derived Medicine Launches Study in Spain

Barcelona-based Grifols announced it would begin a clinical trial to evaluate a new COVID-19 drug's safety and efficacy based on the Grifols immunoglobulin Gamunex®-C and containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal antibodies from plasma donors who have recovered from the disease.

The new drug would provide immediate post-exposure protection against the coronavirus and would be especially useful to complement the vaccine in the early phase after vaccination. It could also protect the elderly and healthcare workers, and immunocompromised patients for whom vaccination isn’t recommended.

Grifols expects this clinical trial, led by the researcher's Oriol Mitjà and Bonaventura Clotet, from Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Barcelona, to begin in February 2021, with the possibility of results in the spring.

According to Dr. Mitjà, “This treatment based on immunoglobulins would provide a combination of polyclonal antibodies that, compared with monoclonal antibodies, offers a greater diversity that could improve the degree of protection against the coronavirus.”