Grifols Enters Formal Collaboration with US Government for COVID-19 Treatment

Global healthcare company, Grifols, has entered into a formal collaboration with United States Federal public health agencies, including the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to produce a treatment that specifically targets COVID-19.

According to a March 25, 2020 press release, the collaborative effort will involve the collection of plasma from convalescent COVID-19 patients, which will then be processed into a hyperimmune globulin to support preclinical and clinical studies. In these studies, it is hoped that the collaborative team will be able to discern whether an anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin therapy can be successful as a treatment for COVID-19.

As a part of the public–private partnership, Grifols will provide its expertise and resources in the areas of plasma collection through its network of FDA-approved plasma donor centers. Additionally, in conjunction with other health agencies, Grifols will test and qualify donors, process plasma into hyperimmune globulin at its purpose-built facility in Clayton, NC, and will support the preclinical and clinical studies.

In addition to developing hyperimmune globulin as a COVID-19 treatment, Grifols will provide support to use convalescent plasma for transfusion as a potential therapy through the provision of viral inactivation technology that will be used to ensure inactivated plasma units for treatment use. To accommodate this supportive task, Grifols will be building a new facility at its Clayton site.

Simultaneously, the company has announced it is working, through a collaboration with select donation centers, on a clinical trial with inactivated plasma from recovered patients in Spain.

Source: Grifols