New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is developing horse sera containing antibodies against Covid-19 even as a study showed that human plasma therapy does not prevent death and is not even beneficial in reducing the progression of the disease from moderate to severe.

The council has completed the animal testing of equine sera — blood plasma obtained from horses that have recovered from Covid-19. It has already got permission to conduct human trials and will soon start clinical studies, ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said. ICMR is developing the equine sera in collaboration with the Hyderabad-based firm Biological E.

The principle behind using horse sera is similar to that of plasma therapy, that is, to artificially introduce antibodies against a virus when the body can’t produce a robust immune response on its own. The standardisation of antibody-rich plasma can be achieved using animals, ICMR said.