Researchers at Amsterdam UMC have just started a randomized clinical trial for critically ill patients with COVID-19 who have been admitted to intensive care with severe pneumonia. The new study set up in close collaboration by the sponsor InflaRx, a German biopharmaceutical company, and the teams of doctor Alexander Vlaar and professor Diederik van de Beek examines the safety and effectiveness of a treatment with an antibody that blocks inflammatory factor C5a. This inflammatory factor is part of an important defense mechanism against the virus, the complement system, however in some cases it causes an excessive inflammation.
By switching off C5a the damage by the inflammatory response might be prevented. A recent submitted study report (preprint) showed a promising suppressive effect when two Chinese patients were treated with the same anti-C5a monoclonal antibody. The first patients were enrolled in the clinical trial at Amsterdam UMC last week.
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