Towards a plasma-based coronavirus treatment
If clinical studies validate its efficacy, blood plasma-based treatments will prove to be a key therapy in the fight against coronavirus. A Belgian pharmaceutical site has already been selected for mass production.
Pierre Dorignaux, head of the Takeda pharmaceutical production site in Lessines (Hainaut province), is delighted, "We were chosen for our technological and human expertise, and because we had the capacity to supply the requested products quickly."
As a member of a coalition of pharmaceutical companies known as the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, the Japanese group Takeda is therefore counting on Belgian know-how to become one of the world's leading production pools for this blood plasma-based coronavirus treatment.
Although still undergoing clinical studies, it appears that immunity transfer generally occurs when plasma from patients cured of COVID-19 is transferred to those currently ill. Plasma is the liquid component of blood with high antibody concentrates. By injecting these antibodies into patients, their immune system is strengthened and the body is better able to fight the coronavirus.
This drug will hopefully prove to be effective and be produced rapidly on a large scale in Belgium in the commercial phase.