Coronavirus: Stony Brook University Seeks Blood Plasma Donors

STONY BROOK, NY — Stony Brook University is seeking survivors of the new coronavirus to donate blood plasma, as researchers are collecting convalescent serum to use in an experimental treatment strategy in those battling COVID-19, the school announced. The Stony Brook Medicine research study will try to determine if blood plasma from those who've recovered from COVID-19 can help treat those hospitalized with the virus.

Plasma, the liquid portion of the blood, which helps with clotting and supporting immunity, contains antibodies that can potentially be used to kill the virus, the university said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began allowing healthcare providers to request the use of convalescent plasma in patients with serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 infections in late March. Less than a week later, Stony Brook University Hospital received FDA approval to offer the treatment to its patients through a randomized, controlled study and is expected to enroll up to 500 patients from Long Island, the school said.

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The study is led by Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, MD, medical director of perioperative quality and patient safety, and professor and vice chair of Clinical Research and Innovation in the Renaissance School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology. To maximize the opportunity of benefit, 80 percent of patients enrolled in the trial will receive the convalescent plasma. Clinical trials normally have a 50/50 split, the school said, with 50 percent in the treatment group and 50 percent in the control.

"We are fast-tracking this large-scale clinical trial, as every second counts when seeking lifesaving treatment for these critically ill patients," Dr. Bennett-Guerrero stated in a news release. "The study will assess the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma versus standard plasma in hospitalized adult patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis."

Convalescent serum therapy has been used in patients during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the diphtheria epidemic in the United States in the 1920s, and the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

"Transferring this antibody-rich plasma into someone who is still fighting the disease may give that person the immune power to recover from the disease," Dr. Bennett-Guerrero said. "This is especially important in the first several weeks of infection before one can develop high enough antibody levels to fight the virus.”

Stony Brook Medicine is working with Chembio Diagnostic Systems, a public company based on Long Island.

Javan Esfandiari, executive vice president and chief science & technology officer, said Chembio will use its Dual Path Platform to separately and simultaneously detect and measure antibodies to fight COVID-19.

"Our unique patented technology uses one of our two analyzers (the MR1 and MR2) produced by Chembio, to read the test results for both IgM and IgG from finger stick blood in 15 minutes and give a numerical result related to the amount of antibody in the sample," Esfandiari said. "This takes away the individual subjectivity of results and increases the sensitivity and specificity of the test.

Esfandiari noted Chembio has received authorization to market and sell its COVID-19 assay system in the United States through the FDA notification process.

Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, MACP, senior vice president of Health Sciences and dean of Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, said everyone at the university is "laser-focused" on identifying every way possible to fight the coronavirus.

"Having a network of physician-scientists in place allows us to contribute on both a local and global scale to accelerate the fight against COVID-19 and save lives," he said.

A Journal of the American Medical Association study of the treatment shows promise from a team of Chinese scientists describing the use of convalescent plasma in five COVID-19 patients, the university said.

"Stony Brook physician-researchers and researchers across the globe are looking to answer the question of whether this therapy can successfully help flatten the curve and save lives sooner than expected," the medicine department said.