Polish pharmaceutical company Biomed Lublin has started producing a coronavirus drug from human plasma with COVID-19 antibodies.
“From today, it will be about two months until the release of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin [antibodies] for clinical trials,” Biomed management board member Piotr Fic said at a press conference at the medical university in Lublin in eastern Poland. “We will be able to release the drug for clinical trials, probably by the end of October.”
In late July, the company planned to collect more than 80 liters of plasma from nine regional blood donation centers. Now, a total of 150 liters have been collected to begin production.
According to The American Journal of Pathology, several case studies have found the “administration of convalescent plasma as a safe treatment option for those with severe COVID-19 disease.”
Importantly, the severity of the coronavirus pandemic has allowed the drug registration procedure to take place in 150 days instead of the standard 210 days.
Co-financed by Poland’s Medical Research Agency, the drug will be tested by the Institute of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine in the country’s capital.
Biomed prepares to produce 3,000 doses that will be distributed to the Independent Public Clinical Hospital in Lublin, where clinical trials lasting four months will be overseen. After that, the company hopes to produce between 30,000 and 40,000 doses, depending on having sufficient plasma available.