Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have found investigational convalescent plasma to be safe following transfusion in a diverse group of 20,000 patients. The findings — from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Expanded Access Program for COVID-19 — are reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

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The safety report assessed the seven days following transfusion for hospitalized patients between April 3 and June 11 who were deemed at risk of progressing to a severe or life-threatening condition. Nearly 40% of the patients were women; 20% African Americans; nearly 35% Hispanic and 5% Asian. Seven-day mortality rates declined to 8.6 % compared to 12% in a previous safety study of the first 5,000 transfused patients. Serious adverse events continued to be less than one percent.

“Our efforts to understand convalescent plasma continue,” says Michael Joyner, M.D., principal investigator of the EAP at Mayo Clinic and lead author of the article. “We’re optimistic but must remain objective as we assess increasing amounts of data.”