Global Plasma Providers Partner to Develop Potential COVID-19 Hyperimmune Therapy

On April 6, 2020, Takeda and CSL Behring, a provider of plasma-derived and recombinant therapies based in King of Prussia, PA, announced a partnership to develop a potential plasma-derived therapy to treat COVID-19 with the following companies:

• Biotest: a provider of plasma proteins and biological drugs based in Dreieich, Germany.

• Bio Products Laboratory: a UK-based supplier of plasma-derived treatments

• LFB: a biopharmaceutical group based in France that develops, manufactures, and markets plasma-derived products and recombinant proteins

• Octapharma: a human protein manufacturer headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland.

The companies will develop an investigational, unbranded anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune immunoglobulin medicine with the potential to treat patients with serious complications from COVID-19. Experts will collaborate across key aspects such as plasma collections, clinical trial development, and manufacturing.

Takeda reports that developing a hyperimmune will require plasma donations from various patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19 and those whose blood contains antibodies that can fight the novel coronavirus. Once collected, the “convalescent” plasma will then be transported to manufacturing facilities where it will undergo proprietary processing, including effective virus inactivation and removal processes, and then purified into the product.

“Unprecedented times call for bold moves,” said Julie Kim, president of Takeda’s plasma-derived therapies business, in a company press release. “We collectively agree that by collaborating and bringing industry resources together, we could accelerate bringing a potential therapy to market as well as increase the potential supply. We invite companies and institutions focusing on plasma to support or join our alliance.”

“Leaders lead during uncertainty. There is no question that we are all experiencing the impact of COVID-19,” said Bill Mezzanotte, executive vice president and head of R&D at CSL Behring, in the release. “This effort aims to accelerate a reliable, scalable, and sustainable option for caregivers to treat patients suffering from the impact of COVID-19. In addition to pooling industry resources, we will also collaborate with government and academic efforts as a single alliance whenever we can, including important activities like clinical trials. This will make it more efficient in these hectic times for these stakeholders as well.”

Source: Takeda