COVID-19 Antibody Therapy Treatment Advances At SCL Health

BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As providers in the healthcare industry continue work to develop effective treatments for COVID-19, SCL Health is advancing critical work with the antibody therapy known as Convalescent Plasma (CP) transfusions.

SCL Health is participating in work being mobilized by Mayo Clinic, as part of the Colorado COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Program, to advance investigational convalescent plasma therapy. The approach gives patients an infusion of antibody-rich plasma from people who have recovered from the virus that causes COVID-19.

"This is very exciting research and we're honored to be a part of it," said SCL Health's project lead, Dr. Alan Miller, Chief Medical Director of Oncology and Associate Chief Medical Director of Clinical Research. "People are eager to help in any way they can. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this vital research from the very point of the donor draw through to the treatment of the patient," he concluded.

SCL Health operates hospitals and clinics across Colorado and donations are being coordinated at the regional level. In Western Colorado, plasma donations are being accepted at SCL Health's Regional Blood Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Blood Center is capable of harvesting and processing convalescent plasma donations and administering the therapy to COVID-19 patients.

In the Denver Metro Area, SCL Health is partnering with Vitalant blood donation centers. Plasma donations are being collected at the Vitalant Blood Center in Lowry. Potential donors must participate in a pre-screening process, which includes proof of a positive COVID-19 test, and must have been symptom-free for at least 14 days prior to donating plasma. Once established, a second test is administered, and if negative, then plasma can be drawn. 

Interested donors are encouraged to contact SCL Health by emailing their name and contact information to [email protected], or call 303-813-5230 for a screener to contact them. "We are encouraging potential donors to contact us," said Jennifer Rhamy, Director of the St. Mary's Regional Blood Center. "We need to connect with you quickly to advance this important work."

Both Vitalant and the St. Mary's Regional Blood Center started to collect donor plasma on Monday, April 13, 2020. Use of convalescent plasma has been studied in outbreaks of other respiratory infections, including the 2003 SARS-CoV-1 epidemic, the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and the 2012 MERS-CoV epidemic.

Nikki Sloup
303-813-5196
[email protected]

SOURCE SCL Health

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