Early CCP Reduces Risk of Hospitalization, Mortality in Immunocompromised Patients With Mild COVID-19
March 12, 2025
Early administration of high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) before hospital admission may reduce the risk of hospitalization and mortality in immunocompromised patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms, according to findings published this month in
eBioMedicine, part of
The Lancet Discovery Science.
The trial, Early, Very High-Titer Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Clinically Vulnerable Individuals with Mild COVID-19 (COVIC-19), enrolled 120 immunocompromised patients, most of whom had received at least three SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. Investigators randomly assigned participants to receive either standard of care alone or standard of care plus two units of very high titer CCP within seven days of symptom onset.
None of the 59 patients who received very-high-titer CCP in addition to standard of care were hospitalized or died within 28 days of treatment, compared with five patients (8.6%) who received standard of care alone. The difference was statistically significant (p=0.027). Researchers also noted that the benefit of CCP was most pronounced in patients who had not received monoclonal antibodies, which have shown reduced effectiveness against emerging variants.
The researchers emphasized the importance of early intervention with CCP, suggesting that the results, alongside those of other studies, highlight the value of randomized trials to assess the efficacy of convalescent plasma in patients unable to mount their own immune response. They concluded that such research could prove crucial in the event of another pandemic, where early passive immunity might offer an effective treatment strategy.
