The FDA on Tuesday approved use of blood plasma from people who have survived COVID-19 to treat the most serious cases of the disease until a vaccine or other treatment can be developed.
"The approach definitely has merit, and what’s remarkable about it is it’s not a new idea; it’s been with us for a good hundred years or longer," said Dr. Jeffrey Henderson, associate professor of medicine and molecular microbiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told
NBC News.
Henderson is part of the nationwide network of doctors and researchers working on protocols to use plasma to treat COVID-19.
"I think we don't know until we have experience and case reports with this particular disease whether it will be effective, but just based on its track record with a number of other viruses, I think it has a very good chance of working," Henderson said.
The method has been used for decades, including during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
According to the FDA's protocols, doctor's can request to treat patients with the experimental treatment on a case-by-case basis. Those who are at risk of dying are the only ones to be considered for now.
Most requests will receive a response from the FDA within four to eight hours, according to the agency's statement. Doctors can call the FDA’s Office of Emergency Operations for approval over the phone if it is needed more quickly.
Should the treatment be shown to be safe and effective it would likely work best if given before symptoms become severe, experts said. Such treatments also are shown to be effective for frontline medical professionals treating those with such diseases, NBC reported.
"Although promising, convalescent plasma has not been shown to be effective in every disease studied," the FDA announcement said. "It is therefore important to determine through clinical trials, before routinely administering convalescent plasma to patients with COVID-19, that it is safe and effective to do so."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced that trials would be starting in his state, most likely in New Rochelle, where a large number of cases were discovered and several people already have recovered.
"It's only a trial," Cuomo said "It's a trial for people who are in serious condition, but the New York State Department of Health has been working on this with some of New York's best health care agencies, and we think it shows promise, and we're going to be starting that this week."