Islamabad: The government has approved clinical trials for plasma therapy and locally made ventilators in an attempt to tackle the country’s ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation, according to a news source. It has also granted permission to local industries to manufacture sanitisers and produce Chloroquine, the anti-malarial medicine which has shown some efficacy in safeguarding recipients against the virus.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) held back-to-back meetings with expert committees to evaluate pending applications regarding the manufacture of items like mechanical ventilators and hand sanitisers, along with drug production. DRAP enlisted over 50 manufacturers to produce hand sanitisers, so that they could be made freely available to the public.
DRAP’s Clinical Study Committee (CSC) permitted clinical trials of Covid-19 patients’ plasma as a passive immunisation method during the pandemic. Professor Dr Tahir Shamsi, principal investigator and chairman of the National Institute of Blood Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Karachi, submitted the relevant application for these trials. This study will involve injecting moderate and severe Covid-19 patients with convalescent plasma for passive immunisation, and to prevent them from having to go on ventilators.
The CSC also approved testing basic ventilators designed by
the Pakistan Engineering Council. This is expected to help meet domestic
requirements.
