India is likely to remove convalescent plasma therapy from its standard treatment guidelines for the coronavirus disease, the head of the country’s apex health research agency signalled on Tuesday, citing its study that found no benefits from plasma.

Balram Bhargava, director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, cited the council’s study on 464 patients in 39 hospitals across the country earlier this year that had suggested that plasma did not reduce mortality or severe illness in Covid-19 patients.

“We’ve had discussions in the national task force and we are discussing this further… this may be deleted from the national guidelines,” Bhargava said at a briefing by the Union health ministry. “This is the ongoing discussion and, more or less, we’re reaching towards that.”

Bhargava’s statement is the first official hint that the government is rethinking the presence of plasma as a therapeutic option for Covid-19.

Ever since the council posted the study’s findings on a research archive on September 9, there has been speculation in medical circles whether the national task force and an expert medical panel that recommend the treatment guidelines would take into account its negative findings.

Although the health ministry had cautioned that plasma is experimental and needs to be used with caution, many doctors have been concerned about unjustified enthusiasm and the sale of plasma in the black market at exorbitant prices across the country.

Anecdotal accounts suggest that members of the public across India have even sought plasma donations for Covid-19 patients through social media platforms.

Convalescent plasma, which is extracted from patients who have recovered from Covid-19, contains antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Clinical trials worldwide have aimed at assessing the efficacy of plasma in preventing deaths and severe disease.

In August, the US Food and Drug Administration had issued an emergency use authorisation for plasma therapy in the treatment of hospitalised patients. However, the FDA had also cautioned that “adequate and well-controlled randomised trials remain necessary for a definitive demonstration” of the plasma’s efficacy in Covid-19 patients.

Bhargava said India’s trial on 464 patients is the largest in the world. The study describing the findings, he said, has been accepted for publication in The British Medical Journal.

Bhargava also said the expert medical panel is also examining the findings of the World Health Organisation study that has suggested that remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine do not prevent deaths in Covid-19 patients. “We’ll take into cognisance and issue advisories accordingly,” he said.