Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has begun developing TAK-888, a drug made from blood plasma, to treat high-risk patients with severe respiratory infections tied to the new coronavirus. Korea Biomed reported that the company announced the project at the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
Technically, TAK-888 is a polyclonal hyperimmune globulin, or H-IG. Doctors would take plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 and concentrate the pathogen-specific antibodies in it. Injected into a newly confirmed patient, those antibodies can prompt an immune response and raise the chance of recovery. Hyperimmune globulins have previously worked against severe acute viral respiratory infections, according to the company, and are considered a possible treatment for COVID-19.
Plasma from survivors
The method has precedent in China. Treatment guidelines issued by the Chinese authorities include plasma from recovered patients, and medical workers in Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, urged recovered residents to donate theirs.
Takeda needs the same raw material. It must obtain plasma from recovered patients, or from people vaccinated in the future. The company said it is in talks with national health and regulatory agencies and health care partners in the U.S., Asia and Europe to speed the research along.
Manufacturing will start in an isolated area of Takeda’s facility in Georgia, which the company says will keep the work from affecting its other plasma-derived products.
What the company said
Dr. Chris Morabito, who leads research and development for Takeda’s Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit, pointed to the firm’s record. Takeda has more than 75 years of experience developing plasma-derived products. “Our heritage, combined with our scale, expertise, and capabilities, uniquely position Takeda to realize the potential of plasma-derived therapies, such as TAK-888,” he said.
Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, president of the Vaccine Business Unit and co-lead of the COVID-19 response team, said the company had “identified relevant assets and capabilities across the company.” He added that Takeda is “hopeful that we can expand the treatment options for patients with COVID-19 and the providers caring for them.”
A second line of work is also under way. Takeda is checking whether certain marketed therapies and molecules in its drug library could treat COVID-19. “These efforts are at an early stage but being given a high priority within the company,” it said.
Sources
- Japan’s Takeda begins development of plasma-derived therapy for COVID-19
- Takeda begins developing COVID-19 plasma therapy TAK-888
