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In the absence of a cure or vaccine for the coronavirus, a group of scientists is searching for a fast solution in an unconventional place: the veins of people who have recovered.

Starting in New York City hospitals this week, and soon in dozens of medical centers across the United States, researchers will start drawing blood from COVID-19 survivors, who have antibodies their bodies made to fight the disease. They'll then isolate their plasma, the liquid part of blood that contains antibodies. And in a process called “convalescent plasma therapy,” their antibodies will be transferred to others, either to protect them against getting infected or to boost the immune systems of those who are already sick.

This highly experimental therapy hasn’t been proven to work against the coronavirus, but preliminary research out of China suggests that it has helped a small group of patients recover. It’s also seen some success in past infectious disease outbreaks, including in fighting the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreak.

Acknowledging the “public health emergency” wreaked by the new coronavirus, the FDA on Tuesday opened up access for doctors to use the therapy on a case-by-case basis to treat patients in severe or life-threatening condition.

As of Friday, the coronavirus has infected more than half a million people worldwide, including 92,000 and counting in the US. A vaccine is in the works but won’t be ready for the general population for at least a year and a half, and drugs are in clinical trials that might take 8 to 10 months to produce convincing results. Convalescent plasma therapy, if it works, could be a more immediate treatment with a relatively abundant supply source: to date, thousands of people have recovered.

“This is your by far fastest shot-on-goal,” Michael Joyner, a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist who is helping lead what’s being called the COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project, told BuzzFeed News. “If we can just keep a small fraction of people headed to the ICU out of the ICU, we’ll be beneficial to the whole ecosystem.”

The effort is being spearheaded by Arturo Casadevall, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who first floated the idea to “protect the vulnerable with the antibodies in the blood of those fortunate enough to have recovered” in a Feb. 27 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Thirty to forty academic medical centers have since jumped on board, including Johns Hopkins, the Mayo Clinic, Washington University at St. Louis, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Mount Sinai, according to Joyner.

In the world of clinical research, where trials are usually planned out months to years in advance, the grassroots collaboration has sprung up unusually quickly as scientists have seen the enormous need for solutions. “Our conference calls are getting toward the limit,” said Joyner, whose lab has made a total switch from studying exercise physiology to focusing on the coronavirus. He said conference calls to discuss the treatment often include up to 300 researchers.

A few institutions are planning to treat patients immediately, and researchers are working to get approval for formal, rigorous clinical trials that will collect data about the therapy, beginning with whether it is safe. Mount Sinai, which along with other New York hospitals has been besieged by COVID-19 cases, started the treatment this week and is soliciting blood donations from recovered patients. Albert Einstein College of Medicine expects to begin trials within three to four weeks.

Adult patients will be the first group treated. One recoveree can provide enough plasma for one or two patients, depending on their size, and they can also donate their blood multiple times, Joyner said. Their blood must also be screened to ensure that it doesn’t contain the virus and other toxins. Joyner said the plasma would be transfused to recipients just like it is in regular surgery.

But plasma-derived therapy is restricted by the number of able and willing donors. A spokesperson for Mount Sinai did not respond to questions about how many volunteers have signed up so far.

The goal for now is to help stem the tide of hospitalizations threatening to overwhelm the health care system.

“Historical evidence suggests if you can give it to people relatively early in the course of the hospitalization, before they’re in the ICU, that might be the sweet spot for administration,” Joyner said.

The treatment could also be preventative. Later, the researchers hope to investigate whether the therapy could immunize health care workers against the disease. Doctors and nurses without adequate protective gear are treating infected patients, in turn getting sick themselves and sometimes dying.

But there are concerns about whether the treatment will work. One basic question hinges on the immunity of anyone who recovers: While to date, scientists haven’t seen definitive evidence of a person who’s gotten infected twice, they also don’t know how long people stay immune to the new coronavirus. There are also risks that the transfusions could inadvertently trigger the recipient’s immune system or sicken them more.