USC, Clemson, Prisma Health and MUSC are working as one in the fight against COVID-19

During the global COVID-19 crisis it is essential that institutions like ours — Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, Prisma Health and the University of South Carolina — join forces to maximize resources to help all South Carolinians.

That’s why we have deployed teams of professionals to address the novel coronavirus — and to use our combined expertise in clinical trials, epidemiology, testing, bioengineering innovation and therapeutics.

In therapeutics we are working with pharmaceutical companies on clinical trials for the novel coronavirus — and we are participating in expanded access treatment programs under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that could help individuals who wouldn’t meet the criteria for the clinical trials. Our combined team will also be involved in additional clinical research protocols — including investigational drugs, vaccines, lab tests and data analytics.

The goal of these efforts is to discover new treatments and innovations for long-term solutions to COVID-19.

One clinical trial now underway is collecting plasma of recovered patients.

Recently MUSC and Prisma Health became part of the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma project, an organization of academic and private institutions exploring the use of convalescent plasma for COVID-19. Using a protocol adopted from the Mayo Clinic, several COVID-19 patients at MUSC and Prisma Health have already been treated and outcomes will be closely followed.

In addition MUSC and Prisma Health plan to study risks to health care workers and, along with USC, develop a registry for COVID-19 positive patients. the ultimate goal is to integrate the data into a larger Southeastern registry.

Prisma Health is also participating in an international clinical study of the drug remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment for patients. Remdesivir is an antiviral medication originally created to treat Ebola virus disease, and it has been tested to be active against severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome.

Under the banner of epidemiology Prisma Health, Clemson and USC are working to map neighborhood-level tracking for the outbreak. We are also gearing up to develop innovative solutions that address health care system needs such as sterilization processes for vital equipment like N95 masks and 3D printing of personal protective equipment.

The team is working closely with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in seeking to create a centralized database so hospitals can evaluate how they compare to others in areas like capacity and supplies.

In the testing domain a multi-disciplinary group is investigating two parallel directives for a COVID-19 serology test — a blood-based test used to identify whether people have been exposed to the pathogen. We are also exploring ways to build our own test; it would be invaluable in numerous ways and would provide important public health information to assist policymakers and community leaders as they assess COVID-19 infected populations in South Carolina and plan for the future.

MUSC Health was the first medical center in South Carolina to perform its own COVID-19 testing with the capacity to accommodate internal testing demand for its five-hospital system; in addition MUSC Health performs testing for more than 10 other health systems and has dramatically shortened the wait time for results.

In bioengineering innovation Clemson is using its patented micro-channel fibers that purify and concentrate the COVID-19 antibodies present in saliva. If proven effective, this technology would be a simple way to self-test at home. Meanwhile, Clemson is also exploring ways to detect COVID-19 in waste streams. Both of these tests are inexpensive to produce — and they would eliminate testing exposure risk to health care workers.

Prisma Health designed VESper, a unique ventilator expansion splitter device that allows a single ventilator to support two patients during acute equipment shortages like the ones we’re seeing during this pandemic. Specifications were sent to USC engineers to print prototypes, and in less than a week a combined team obtained the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization. In collaboration with a medical device company VESper is being distributed at no cost to health care providers across America.

In addition MUSC faculty developed detailed plans for 3D printed N95 masks — and have also made these plans available online so that anyone across the globe can produce the masks.

The COVID-19 disaster demands a different approach because this virus knows no boundaries. Our common goal is to work together to have a positive impact now.

This piece was authored by USC President Robert Caslen, Clemson University President Jim Clements, Medical University of South Carolina President David Cole and Prisma Health CEO Mark O’Halla.

This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 2:58 PM.