Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) has collected its first units of convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients, part of an experimental initiative to treat seriously ill patients.
In a rapid response to the Food and Drug Administration’s action to fast track the potential treatment, OBI created a statewide registry to catalog available recovered COVID-19 patients to serve as possible donors. The registry – which has been live less than a week – has already seen more than 20 patients sign up, one of whom was the first to donate plasma units.
“At OBI, we’ve always pursued innovation and emerging opportunities to improve health and save lives,” said John Armitage, MD, president and CEO of Oklahoma Blood Institute. “Today, that innovation has allowed us to bring hope to patients and their medical teams as they explore this new treatment option.”
After collection, the plasma units will be processed and tested for safety. Once cleared for patient use, they will be transfused to critically ill patients at local partner hospitals as part of the experimental initiative.
As the COVID-19 crisis continues, more recovered patients will be needed to donate their plasma. To provide convalescent plasma, donors must:
- Have a prior diagnosis of COVID-19, documented by a laboratory test
- Be symptom-free for 14 days prior to donation and test negative for COVID-19
(testing will be provided, if needed) - Be eligible to donate blood
Donors are encouraged to sign up for Oklahoma’s registry at my.bio-linked.org. Bio-Linked allows users to submit confidential health and social information via a secure site and to list themselves as potential volunteers for medical research.
“Our team is honored to be pioneering a cutting-edge treatment that allows special patients who have fought off COVID to use plasma donations to power recovery for other patients,” Armitage said. “Generosity is a natural strength of our species and now we can use it directly to defeat this terrible virus.”