Drugmaker Emergent BioSolutions is partnering with New York City-based Mount Sinai to test its experimental COVID-19 hyperimmune globulin treatment, COVID-HIG.
Funded by $34.6 million from the Department of Defense, the testing will focus on whether the drug can be used to prevent COVID-19 infections in physicians, nurses and military personnel.
Under the agreement, ImmunoTek Bio Centers will provide Mount Sinai with collection machines to gather plasma from recovered COVID-19 survivors. Mount Sinai will then ship the plasma to Emergent, which will use it to manufacture COVID-HIG.
"There is emerging evidence that convalescent plasma is an effective treatment for COVID-19 patients," David Reich, MD, Mount Sinai Hospital's president and COO, said in a July 8 news release. "Therefore, hyperimmune globulin may become an effective option in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 currently, in the absence of a vaccine, as well as in the future, particularly for patients who do not develop immunity from a vaccine."