- Convalescent Plasma: Plasma collected from patients recovering from COVID-19 (convalescent plasma), has been used to treat COVID-19 patients. Researchers have found that patients who receive convalescent plasma within three days of developing COVID-19 symptoms were less likely to develop severe illness. However, convalescent plasma therapy has not yet been approved by the FDA. Instead, it is regulated as an investigational product for use during a public health emergency. The FDA has issued guidance for plasma collection in blood centers and for the use of the plasma to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine and/or Azithromycin: Both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are antimalarial drugs that have been available for many years. In addition to treating malaria, they are also used to treat autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Both drugs are not currently FDA-approved for use in COVID-19 patients, however, several studies have shown that the drugs have antiviral properties that may be able to block the transport of the COVID-19 virus possibly preventing the release of the viral genome and may also interfere with the binding of the virus to the host cell receptor. Early reports from China and France were promising, suggesting that patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19 improved more quickly when given hydroxychloroquine. In addition, the drug azithromycin has been shown to have antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. When azithromycin was used in combination with hydroxychloroquine, it has been shown to have a synergistic effect on SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in molecular modeling studies. However, despite demonstrating antiviral activity in some in vitro systems, neither hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin nor hydroxychloroquine alone reduced upper or lower respiratory tract viral loads or demonstrated clinical efficacy.
Currently, neither hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine nor azithromycin are FDA approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Moreover, the NIH guidelines recommend against the use of either of these drugs for the treatment of hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
