Use of convalescent serum reduces severity of COVID-19 in nonhuman primates

ABSTRACT

Passive transfer of convalescent plasma or serum is a time-honored strategy for treating infectious diseases. Human convalescent plasma containing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is currently being used to treat COVID-19 patients. However, most patients have been treated outside of randomized clinical trials making it difficult to determine the efficacy of this approach. Here, we assessed the efficacy of convalescent sera in a newly developed African green monkey model of COVID-19. Groups of SARS-CoV-2-infected animals were treated with pooled convalescent sera containing either high or low to moderate anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers. Differences in viral load and disease pathology were minimal between monkeys that received the lower titer convalescent sera and untreated controls. However, and importantly, lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory compartments, reduced gross and histopathological lesion severity in the lungs, and reductions in several parameters associated with coagulation and inflammatory processes were observed in monkeys that received convalescent sera versus untreated controls. Our data support human studies suggesting that convalescent plasma therapy is an effective strategy if donors with high level of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are employed and if recipients are at an early stage of disease.