Sanquin blood bank has encountered a major setback in the collection of blood plasma for the production of a corona drug. The amount of antibodies in that plasma is declining faster than hoped for. That writes the AD.
The intention was to recruit 16,000 donors, people who have been infected with corona and therefore have antibodies. Those 16,000 people together would donate plasma 50,000 times. That should yield 30,000 kilos of plasma full of antibodies against Covid-19. A corona drug must be produced from this.
The 16,000 donors have been found, but they are donating less often than hoped and not all donations are suitable. “We have received 20,000 donations,” a Sanquin spokesperson told it AD. “That yielded 8,000 to 9,000 kilos of blood plasma, but some of it is still going to lose weight.” In some of the donors, the antibodies, which are crucial for any medication, appear to disappear quickly from the blood.
It is also not clear whether and how well the medicine works.
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