On Aug. 19, 2021, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) announced that it was part of a randomized, controlled clinical trial intended to determine whether convalescent plasma — the liquid portion of blood collected from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 — is effective in fighting infection caused by the novel coronavirus.

Nationwide, the trial aimed to recruit a total of 600 people with relatively mild symptoms of COVID-19, then test whether convalescent plasma was effective in preventing the disease from progressing to severe illness or death.

Convalescent plasma has been tried with varying levels of effectiveness. Led by Stanford University, the new trial is the first to test effectiveness through a randomized controlled trial – the gold standard of clinical research.

Half of participants will be given an injection of convalescent plasma, and half will be given a saline solution with multivitamin as a placebo.

Note: The study summarizing the conclusion of the C3PO study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found no significant benefit of convalescent plasma for outpatients with early symptoms of COVID-19. A total of 27 patients were enrolled in the study at Oregon Health & Science University among more than 500 enrolled nationwide.