>>>
>>> MORE
>>> MORE DEVELOPMENTS ABOUT COVID-19 FROM THE FDA APPROVING
THE USE OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA
AS A TREATMENT, TO THE FIRST
CASE OF REINFECTION IN THE
WORLD.
WORLD.
WORLD. OUR EXPERT IS BACK WITH US TO
PUT THIS INTO CONTEXT.
LET'S START WITH CONVALESCENT
PLASMA.
PLASMA.
PLASMA. WE HEAR THE TERM, WHAT IS THE
DATA?
DATA?
DATA? HOW
DATA? HOW DO YOU THINK IT IS WORKING
WITH THE TESTS THAT WE HAVE
SEEN?
SEEN?
SEEN? >>
SEEN? >> PLASMA IS THAT YELLOW
COMPONENT THAT CONTAINS
ANTIBODIES WITHIN OUR BLOOD.
CONVALESCENT PLASMA SIMPLY
MEANS THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN THE
PLASMA FROM A PERSON WHO HAS
CONVALESCENT OR RECOVERED FROM
INFECTION, AND YOU ARE
INJECTING US INTO SOMEBODY ELSE
AS A POTENTIAL TREATMENT.
YOU GET THE ANTIBODIES FROM ONE
PERSON TO THE OTHER.
WITH RESPECT TO SAFETY DATA, WE
HAVE GREAT DATA COMING OUT OF
THE MAYO CLINIC WAS 70,000
PATIENTS TELLING US THAT THIS
IS A RELATIVELY SAFE TREATMENT.
ASIDE FROM THE RISK OF A BLOOD
TRANSFUSION, WHICH ARE MINOR,
THERE IS NOT A LOT OF THE
SIGNALS.
SIGNALS.
SIGNALS. THE EFFICACY DATA IS WHERE
THINGS ARE BIT MORE WEEK.
WE HAVE SEEN SOME PEOPLE IN THE
CLINICAL TRIALS GET BETTER WITH
CONVALESCENT PLASMA.
CONVALESCENT PLASMA. WE HAVE ALL HEARD THE STORIES.
THE PROBLEM IS, WE DON'T KNOW
WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED HAD THEY
NOT GET GOTTEN THE CONVALESCENT
PLASMA.
PLASMA.
PLASMA. A
PLASMA. A SMALL STUDY IN A MEDICAL
JOURNAL LOOKED AT 103 PEOPLE
WHERE THERE WAS A CONTROL ARM.
THAT DID SEEM TO SUGGEST A
TREND TOWARD A BENEFIT OF
CONVALESCENT PLASMA.
CONVALESCENT PLASMA. IT WAS NOT PHYSICALLY
SIGNIFICANT.
SIGNIFICANT. WE DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS
BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT A
BENEFIT, OR THE NUMBERS ARE TOO
SMALL TO DETECT THE DIFFERENCE.
I AM A BIT CONCERNED THAT THE
EFFICACY SIGNALS ARE WEEK.
WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN TO GIVE THE
PLASMA OR WHAT DOES TO GIVE.
THERE ARE A LOT OF OUTSTANDING
QUESTIONS REMAINING.
QUESTIONS REMAINING. >> IT IS NOW APPROVED WITH
EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION.
EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION. IT IS VIEWED FROM ALL SORTS OF
LENSES FROM POLITICAL AND
EMOTIONAL TO SCIENTIFIC.
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THE
RESPONSE FROM THE FDA?
>> I AM SURPRISED, BASED ON THE
DATA, THAT IT UNDERWENT THE
EUA.
EUA.
EUA. I
EUA. I AM
EUA. I AM CONCERNED THAT IT IS TOO
PREMATURE.
PREMATURE. NOW THAT IT HAS UNDERGONE THAT,
AS A PHYSICIAN, MOST PEOPLE
WILL BE LIKELY TO REACH FOR IT.
THEY WILL NOT HAVE A GREAT DATA
THAT IT WORKS.
SECONDLY, WHEN PHYSICIANS START
TO GIVE IT OUTSIDE OF THE
CONTEXT OF A CLINICAL TRIAL, IT
DOES INCENTIVIZES PEOPLE TO
ENROLL IN CLINICAL TRIALS.
THEY CAN JUST GET IT OUTSIDE OF
THE TRIAL.
THE TRIAL. THE PROBLEM WITH THAT APPROACH
IS ALL THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
REMAINED.
REMAINED.
REMAINED. WE WILL NOT GET THEM ANSWERED.
WE WILL NOT ENROLL PEOPLE INTO
TRIALS.
TRIALS.
TRIALS. >> MAYBE WE WILL LEARN MORE AS
WE GO.
WE GO.
WE GO. WE
WE GO. WE WILL SEE HOW THAT PLAYS OUT.
PEOPLE SAY IF YOU GET IT, YOU
CAN MOVE ON FROM AS FAR AS
COVID-19.
COVID-19.
COVID-19. HERD IMMUNITY COMES INTO PLAY
AS WELL.
AS WELL.
AS WELL. ONE MAN IN HONG KONG CONFIRMED
TO HAVE COVID-19 FOR A SECOND
TIME.
TIME.
TIME. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AS FAR AS
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT REINFECTION?
>> WHAT WAS INTERESTING ABOUT
THE CASE WAS THAT THE GENETIC
ANALYSIS SHOWED AS HE GOT
INFECTED WITH A MUTATED VERSION
OF CORONAVIRUS.
OF CORONAVIRUS. IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE
ORIGINAL STRAIN.
ORIGINAL STRAIN. WHAT WAS ALSO INTERESTING, WITH
THE INITIAL INFECTION, HE WAS
SYMPTOMATIC.
SYMPTOMATIC. HOWEVER, UPON REINFECTION, HIS
BODY REACTED IN A DIFFERENT
WAY.
WAY.
WAY. HE
WAY. HE WAS ASYMPTOMATIC, AND IT WAS
UPON SCREENING.
UPON SCREENING. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S MUCH
HARDER TO DETECT.
REINFECTION IS NOT A CONCEPT
NEW TO MEDICINE.
WE SEE THIS WITH THE FLU EVERY
YEAR.
YEAR.
YEAR. IT
YEAR. IT CAN HAPPEN FOR TWO MAIN
REASONS, THE FIRST IS THE VIRUS
TO MUTATE, AND THE SECOND IS
THAT ANTIBODIES AND PROTECTIVE
RESPONSES CAN WANE OVER TIME
WITH SOME STUDIES SAYING THEY
CAN WANE AS EARLY AS 20 TO 30
DAYS.
DAYS.
DAYS. WITHOUT REINFECTION WITHIN FOUR
MONTHS.
MONTHS.
MONTHS. IN MY OPINION, THIS IS THE
FIRST OF MORE REINFECTION THAT
WE WILL SEE.
THANKFULLY, IT IS NOT THAT
COMMON.
COMMON.
COMMON. TIME WILL TELL AS THINGS GO ON