ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is on the threshold of becoming the first country tocarry out the research, mandatory to introduce intravenous immunoglobulin(C-IVIG) therapy at a mass level as ‘severe’ patients under treatment forcoronavirus, have 100 percent recovery rate.
This was pointed out by scientists at Karachi’s Dow University of HealthSciences (DUHS), who are conducting clinical trials of intravenousimmunoglobulin (C-IVIG)therapy for the treatment coronavirus.
The therapy uses immunoglobulin (IG), a blood product extracted from theplasma of people who have recovered from infection, and which is rich inthe antibodies that target the virus. Continuous infusion of immunoglobincan neutralize the infection in patients and shorten the course of thedisease, scientists at DUHS said.
In June, DUHS trials started on 30 participants, most from the high-riskgroup of people above the age of 60, with many suffering from diabetes,hypertension and other comorbidities.
“The trials are very encouraging and remarkable,” Dr. Shaukat Ali, head ofbiotechnology at DUHS and lead on the C-IVIG project, said in an interviewwith Arab News.
“At the moment, what we have seen is that all severe patients who receivedC-IVIG treatment had 100 percent recovery ratio while in critical patientsthe recovery ratio was 50 to 60 percent.”ALSO READ Media’s role vital in disseminating true information onCOVID-19: Dr Faisallink
Besides, the high recovery rate, Dr. Ali said, the DUHS team had observedthat the treatment had significantly reduced the period of hospitalization.
“The results show that the number of hospitalization days were reduced tosix and a half days for severe patients, which is very encouraging becausenormally a severe patient would occupy hospital resources for 20 to 25days.”
Dr. Shaukat Ali said Pakistan was the first country to develop theimmunoglobulin solution in April 2020.
“Only a week ago, an announcement was made by a global plasma alliance ofbig companies of blood producers, to work on the project,” Dr. Ali added,referring to the Covid-19 Plasma Alliance.
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In Pakistan, clinical research started in June, after a series ofregulatory approvals. The experiment was also registered with the NationalLibrary of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health in the UnitedStates, which maintains the biggest global registry of clinical trials.ALSO READ Opposition must shun negativity after failed Lahore show: Buzdarlink
“Pakistan is the first country in the world which has accomplished theexperiment and announced it,” Dr. Shaukat Ali said.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) authorized clinical trialsfor critically ill COVID-19 patients in mid-April. In the same month, DUHSpurified immunoglobulin from the plasma of COVID-19 patients and preparedIVIG formulation to treat severe and critical virus cases, the report said.
To seek more plasma donors, DUHS scientists announced the outcome of theirtrials on November 21, ahead of their scheduled completion in January 2021.
“With the onset of winter, hospitals are full with patients and we want toalert the authorities that we have the solution that we have developedindigenously and to motivate general public to donate plasma,” Dr. ShaukatAli said .
The announcement was met with substantial public response.
“We are getting plasma from donors and proceeding faster now.
We will complete the trial within a month and go for next phase which willbe multicentric, where we will add more people across the country atdifferent centers,” Dr. Shaukat Ali added.
