Plasma Therapies and Parabiosis in the COVID-19 Era

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), likely spilled over from bats, is causing a nightmarish global pandemic and has ignited a worldwide race for the discovery of effective therapies against COVID-19. The disease severity and lethality are clearly higher in older adults, with notable sex-specific differences. The impact of age on COVID-19 outcomes is reflected by case fatality rates in older patients being up to 100-fold higher than in infants.1 At all ages, men are more severely affected than women.