After Delhi’s first successful plasma therapy on Monday, Karnataka has been added to the list of states which can conduct plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday allowed a private hospital in Bengaluru to conduct convalescent plasma therapy trials on COVID-19 patients under the provisions of the New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019.
The ICMR has granted permission to Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Bangalore Institute of Oncology, for conducting plasma therapy. Sharing the letter by Dr V G Somani, Directorate General of Health Services, which stated, “Grant of permission is given to conduct a clinical study in India entitled “Open-label, parallel arm, Phase I/II Clinical Trial to evaluate safety and efficacy of Convalescent plasma as therapy for COVID-19 Severe SARS-Cov-2 Disease,” on Twitter, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar wrote, “Plasma therapy holds great promise in treating COVID-19 patients and I am happy to inform ICMR agreed to our request and has given permission for plasma treatment to Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Bangalore Inst of Oncology.”
Speaking to Express, Dr Vishal Rao said, “This is a small step. Now, it’s a long way to go but needs hurried action too. We will be sitting with the government for a detailed protocol plan. We will need to identify patients, take ethical consent, etc. There are several protocols involved. We are happy our hospital has got this and we will do our best.”In this form of treatment, blood plasma from a recovered COVID patient is transfused into another patient.