[SFDXA] Prominent Radio Amateur Helping to Lead US Convalescent Plasma Expanded Access Study

[Bill]

    Prominent Radio Amateur Helping to Lead US Convalescent Plasma
    Expanded Access Study

06/30/2020

Well-known contester, DXer, and /National Contest Journal/ (/NCJ/) 
Editor Scott Wright, K0MD, has been “substantially” stepping back from 
ham radio while offering his expertise to the US convalescent plasma 
*COVID-19 Expanded Access Program* <http://www.uscovidplasma.org/>. The 
study began in early April under the leadership of Dr. Michael Joyner, 
MD, of the Mayo Clinic; Dr. Peter Marks, MD, PhD and Dr. Nicole Verdun, 
MD, of the US Food and Drug Administration; Dr. Arturo Casavedall, MD, 
PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, and Wright, who is with the Mayo 
Clinic. Dr. Marks is AB3XC.

“The US Convalescent Plasma Expanded Access Program is a collaborative 
project between the US government and the Mayo Clinic to provide access 
to convalescent plasma for patients in the US who are hospitalized with 
COVID 19,” Wright told ARRL. The work has been referenced during White 
House press briefings and in congressional testimony. The US 
government-supported study collects and provides blood plasma recovered 
from COVID-19 patients, which contains antibodies that may help fight 
the disease. The Mayo Clinic is the lead institution for the program.

“My role was to organize the infrastructure and the research approach, 
and to help lead the set-up of the data collection and of the website 
teams, while overseeing the study conduct and regulatory compliance,” 
Wright explained.

According to a June 18 /Washington Post/ *article* 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/18/blood-plasma-people-who-recovered-is-safe-covid-19-treatment-study-says/>, 
“A large study of 20,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who received 
transfusions of blood plasma from people who recovered found the 
treatment was safe and suggests giving it to people early in the disease 
may be beneficial.”

An initial *safety report* 
<https://dm5migu4zj3pb.cloudfront.net/manuscripts/140000/140200/JCI140200.v1.pdf> 
on 5,000 patients appeared in May in the /Journal of Clinical 
Investigation/. The *safety study* 
<https://els-jbs-prod-cdn.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/pb/assets/raw/Health%20Advance/journals/jmcp/jmcp_ft95_6_8.pdf> 
on 20,000 subjects referenced in the /Washington Post/ article was 
published earlier this month in the /Mayo Clinic Proceedings./

Wright said most scientific studies of this magnitude take months to a 
year with planning and execution to get under way. In this case, the 
study team went from zero to 60 in a few short weeks.

“We started in less than a week. Most studies recruit 2,500 – 5,000 
patients,” Wright said. “We have recruited over 30,000 patients in 10 
weeks, exceeding all expectations.”

Hospitals in all 50 states and several US territories are participating, 
Wright said, and more than 8,000 physician-scientists are working with 
the team as investigators at their hospitals. “We also helped manage the 
start-up of collection of convalescent plasma by the large blood 
organizations, such as the American Red Cross, by strategically 
connecting donor pools and people willing to donate with the blood 
collection centers.”

Wright’s study responsibilities, which are on top of his regular day 
job, have required him to work daily, including weekends, for all of 
April, most of May, and all of June. “It has been intense,” he said.

Wright said an FDA announcement on the benefit of convalescent plasma 
was expected soon. “We are working on a third publication now to submit 
to a major international medical journal for publication on whether the 
study has shown that use of convalescent plasma reduces mortality,” 
Wright added. The FDA has been *inviting donations* 
<https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/donate-covid-19-plasma> 
of convalescent plasma from individuals who have fully recovered from 
COVID-19.