"The fact that we were able to import it from the virology laboratory into the clinical laboratory in a short period of time and validate it with the FDA — from our view, that's a success story," Reich said.
, a scientific coalition that hopes to determine whether plasma transfusions can shorten the course of a COVID-19 illness, or decrease its severity.Reich said Mount Sinai has enrolled more than 90 patients in its convalescent plasma trial. The results are at least a couple of weeks out, he said, but many patients have developed high concentrations of antibodies so far.Mount Sinai's convalescent plasma program started on March 28.
"There is a presumption that the higher the number of antibodies in the bloodstream, the more likely it is to 'neutralize' virus in the bloodstream," Reich said. "But remember this is primarily a respiratory virus. That's how people get infected. So it's unclear what it means to have immunity in the bloodstream."
Reich said Mount Sinai's test shows "a very high sensitivity and specificity," meaning it's accurate and reliable. But the lab's testing capacity is narrow.
So there is hope