Houston Methodist received FDA approval to transfuse donated plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient into a critically ill patient. This treatment was fast-tracked to the bedside as the death toll in the COVID-19 pandemic soared to more than 2,000 people across the U.S.

Houston Methodist physician scientists began recruiting blood plasma donors on Friday, March 27th from among the approximately 250 patients who have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus at Houston Methodist hospitals. Plasma from someone who has recovered from COVID-19 contains antibodies made by the immune system and used to kill the virus. Transfusing this antibody-rich plasma into a COVID-19 patient – a patient still fighting the virus – may transfer the power of the antibodies into a healing, possibly life-saving therapy.

The first recovered COVID-19 patient to donate plasma was an individual from the Houston metropolitan area who has been in good health for more than two weeks. The plasma was transfused into a COVID-19 patient on Saturday, March 28th at Houston Methodist Hospital.