US FDA Approves COVID-19 Plasma Therapy... Trump Calls It a "Historic Announcement" (Summary)

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the 23rd (local time) granted emergency approval for treatment using plasma from patients who have recovered from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). President Donald Trump praised this as a great day.

According to U.S. media including The Wall Street Journal, the FDA stated in a press release on the 23rd (local time) that the mortality rate of patients who received the COVID-19 plasma treatment within three days of hospitalization decreased and their condition improved.

The FDA said that so far, 70,000 COVID-19 patients have been prescribed the plasma treatment, and after analyzing 20,000 of them, confirmed the safety of the treatment, urging recovered COVID-19 patients to donate plasma.

According to the Journal, until now, only Gilead's Remdesivir had received emergency use authorization from the FDA as a COVID-19 treatment.

Immediately after the FDA announcement, President Trump said at a briefing, "I am truly pleased to make this historic announcement." He noted a 35% reduction in mortality rate and emphasized, "The FDA has independently determined that this treatment is safe and very effective. (Today is) a very great day we have been waiting for."

Contrary to President Trump's claims, U.S. media report that there is still controversy over the efficacy of the plasma treatment.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, who joined President Trump at the briefing, only referred to it as a "promising treatment."

In particular, the fact that this announcement was made one day before the Republican National Convention, which will confirm President Trump as the presidential candidate, has led to interpretations that President Trump staged this event to seek a turnaround in the atmosphere ahead of the convention.

The Trump administration, hoping to secure COVID-19 treatments and vaccines before the presidential election, is also expected to approve emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine as early as the end of September.

According to The New York Times and other foreign media, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said during a meeting on the 30th of last month with Democratic leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that emergency use authorization could be granted for vaccines that have not completed Phase 3 clinical trials in the U.S.

This was interpreted to mean that the FDA could bypass the requirement for clinical trials on Americans before approving vaccine use in the U.S.

U.S. authorities are reported to be considering such measures for the vaccine jointly developed by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.