An official statement by the Russian state-owned company Rostec stated that the coronavirus drug “COVID-globulin” has succeeded in clinical trials and has obtained a permanent registration certificate from the Russian Ministry of Health.
The drug is based on the blood plasma of people who have contracted COVID-19 and recovered from it, according to the company.
The drug development operations by Rostec confirmed, during clinical trials, the effectiveness, safety and ability of the drug to neutralize coronavirus, Rostec, specializing in the development and production of high-tech industrial products, added in the statement.
COVID-globulin is prepared out of the blood plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19 disease which contains antibodies to the coronavirus.
Rostec explained that the introduction of the drug helps the body to prevent the development of the disease in a more severe form, and to overcome the infection.
According to Russian media, the results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled comparative study found that seven out of ten patients who received COVID-globulin as part of an integrated treatment, were exposed to a lower risk of contracting the disease more severely.
The drug is more effective when used in the early stages of the disease, which prevented in 70 percent of cases the development of complications that arise against the background of infection with the coronavirus, such as cytokine storm, kidney failure, thromboembolic complications, and the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome, increased degree of lung damage and worsening of clinical symptoms.
Last June, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko stated that the production of anti-COVID-19 immunoglobulin based on the blood plasma of recovered patients had begun in Russia and was planned to be increased.
This came after the Russian Ministry of Health announced earlier that it had approved the use of the “COVID-globulin” to treat coronavirus disease, which depends on the blood plasma of people who have contracted COVID-19 and recovered from it.
In early December, the World Health Organization recommended that the plasma of the blood of those recovering from COVID-19 should not be used to treat patients, and said that there is no evidence that it improves their chances of survival or reduces the need for artificial respiration.
The idea of plasma treatment with the blood of those recovering from COVID-19 is based on the fact that the antibodies to the coronavirus in it can neutralize the virus, thus preventing it from multiplying and stopping tissue damage in patients.
Several studies of plasma from blood recovered from COVID-19 have not demonstrated any clear benefit in patients with severe symptoms.
A US study was halted in March after it indicated that this plasma was unlikely to help patients with mild or moderate symptoms.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that this method of treatment is expensive and wastes a lot of time.
