Takeda Halts Development on COVID-19 Plasma Therapy

Takeda Pharmaceutical has stopped developing a COVID-19 plasma therapy following the treatment’s failure to show efficacy in a late-stage trial.

The phase 3 trial has been evaluating whether CoVIg-19 — which uses antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients — could reduce the risk of disease progression when added to the standard of care, including remdesivir, for high-risk, hospitalized patients.

The investigational treatment is the result of a collaboration by Takeda, CSL Behring and other companies participating in the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance.

The phase 3 study led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases enrolled nearly 600 adult participants across 63 sites in the U.S. and 10 additional countries. The trial is slated to end in July, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.