Trump Grants Emergency Authorization For A Wuhanvirus Treatment - Convalescent Plasma

The president announced at a White House press conference Sunday, that the Food And Drud Administration FDA has "issued an emergency use authorization... for a treatment known as convalescent plasma."

"This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection," Trump said. "Base on the science and the data, the FDA has made the independent determination that the treatment is safe and very effective."

Announcing the decision on Twitte, FDA tweeted, "We determined that it is reasonable to believe that #COVID19 convalescent plasma may be effective in lessening the severity or shortening the length of COVID-19 illness in some patients."

FDA added that the benefits "outweigh the known and potential risks of the product and that there are no adequate, approved, and available alternative treatments."

Appearing with Trump at the briefing, Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn hailed the announcement. "This is a major advance in the treatment of patients," Azar said. He said that the administration's 'Operation Warp speed,' is also supporting the development of other therapeutics.