Published  Wednesday, April 22, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The National Council for Scientific and Technological Research donated ₡35 million colones, approximately $61,841USD, to the Clodomiro Picado Research Institute for the development of a possible cure for covid-19.

The fund will be used to purchase various proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that will be used to immunize horses. They will be used for the creation of plasma and as the main element for the covid-19 cure.

According to lab scientists, the use of horses is an alternative to avoid depending entirely on human donors who are fully recovered from covid-19 disease.

The viral proteins will be used to immunize six horses donated to the University of Costa Rica, to obtain equine antibodies. This work will be done without neglecting the plasma processing of human donors, who successfully overcome virus infection.

This plasma will have the antibodies to produce a drug against the disease, said the Institute in its statement.


According to scientists, the method to develop the cure begins by repeatedly injecting covid-19 proteins into the horse. It is expected that within three months the animal will have produced a good amount of antibodies with the ability to neutralize the virus.

Scientists then draw the blood and separate the blood cells from their liquid part, called the blood plasma, which contains the antibodies.

The horse's antibodies, so-called anti-SARS-COV-2, then go through a purification process.

Finally, the already purified plasma will be used to prepare the medicine to be injected into the patient.

"Precisely, taking advantage of the Laboratory's experience, the third line of action is proposed for the country that allows obtaining equine neutralizing antibodies, and thus not depending on human plasma donors," said Giselle Tamayo-Castillo, of the National Council.

According to Tamayo-Castillo, researchers led by Guillermo León, Alberto Alape Girón and the rest of the group of scientists could produce approximately 600 doses of virus-neutralizing immunoglobulins in three months.

Through the process of immunizing horses, the amount of available medicine could be increased considerably and obtain higher advantages when compared with human donors, said director of the Institute, Alape Girón.


According to scientists, the method to develop the cure begins by repeatedly injecting covid-19 proteins into the horse. It is expected that within three months the animal will have produced a good amount of antibodies with the ability to neutralize the virus.

Scientists then draw the blood and separate the blood cells from their liquid part, called the blood plasma, which contains the antibodies.

The horse's antibodies, so-called anti-SARS-COV-2, then go through a purification process.

Finally, the already purified plasma will be used to prepare the medicine to be injected into the patient.

"Precisely, taking advantage of the Laboratory's experience, the third line of action is proposed for the country that allows obtaining equine neutralizing antibodies, and thus not depending on human plasma donors," said Giselle Tamayo-Castillo, of the National Council.

According to Tamayo-Castillo, researchers led by Guillermo León, Alberto Alape Girón and the rest of the group of scientists could produce approximately 600 doses of virus-neutralizing immunoglobulins in three months.

Through the process of immunizing horses, the amount of available medicine could be increased considerably and obtain higher advantages when compared with human donors, said director of the Institute, Alape Girón.

According to scientists, in order to obtain a maximum of 50 treatments against covid-19, it is required to obtain one liter of plasma from 25 recovered patients. Double the amount of treatments can be extracted from a single horse, said Alape Girón.

Costa Rica isn’t the only country experimenting with plasma extraction. Across the globe, according to the Journal of Korean Medical Science, two critically ill patients in South Korea infected with covid-19 fully recovered from the infection after receiving similar plasma therapy.


According to scientists, in order to obtain a maximum of 50 treatments against covid-19, it is required to obtain one liter of plasma from 25 recovered patients. Double the amount of treatments can be extracted from a single horse, said Alape Girón.

Costa Rica isn’t the only country experimenting with plasma extraction. Across the globe, according to the Journal of Korean Medical Science, two critically ill patients in South Korea infected with covid-19 fully recovered from the infection after receiving similar plasma therapy.

In Costa Rica, the Clodomiro Picado Research Institute will send the medicine in the form of concentrated and purified immunoglobulins that will be injected into the patients. The result of the treatment will be evaluated by Social Security specialists.


In the country, the Ministry of Health confirmed an increase of 7 new patients infected with the virus, increasing the total to 669 cases.

 Authorities provided the following statistics:

- The patients' ages range from 1 to 87 with an average age of 37. Of those, 34 are children under the age of 13, 602 are between 18 and 70 years old, and 33 are elder patients over the age of 70.

- 11 are being treated in public hospitals, where 6 of them have been reported in intensive care with delicate health conditions.

- Of those infected, 320 are women (47%) and 349 are men (53%).

-133 patients are employees of Social Security.

- 58 foreigners infected.

- 150 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, of these 76 women and 74 men.

- 7,495 people have been ruled out since the virus was first reported in the country in March.

- Six deaths reported from patients infected with covid-19.


The most recent death was reported on Monday. A 54-year-old Cuban man, resident in Alajuela Province, was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 6. That same day he was admitted into intensive care at Hospital México in San José Province. The man had pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, among others which made him more vulnerable to covid-19.

He was one of the first patients confirmed with the virus. Officials identified him as a doctor at the hospital where he was being treated for a lung infection and diabetes. According to the authorities, the man arrived from Panamá on Feb. 22 without symptoms at Juan Santamaría International Airport. Days later he went to a hospital where authorities confirmed his infection with coronavirus covid-19.

He was identified as a superspreader of covid-19. A superspreader is an individual who is more likely to infect others, compared to a typical infected person. According to the authorities, he was linked to 81 people infected with covid-19.

On April 19, a 69-year-old Costa Rican who was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 25 died. He was admitted into intensive care at the  San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José on March 28. He had high blood pressure which increased his risk factor for coronavirus covid-19, the ministry said.

On April 15, an 84-year-old Costa Rican man who had tested positive for covid-19 on April 1 was reported dead. He was admitted into intensive care at the same hospital, San Juan de Dios, on April 5. The patient suffered from high blood pressure. His pre-existing condition plus his age played major risk factors for contracting covid-19, said the ministry.

On April 8, the death of a 45-year-old Costa Rican was reported. He entered the country from the U.S. in March, where it is presumed he was infected. He was hospitalized for 10 days in the intensive care of the same hospital, San Juan de Dios.

The first two patients died in March. They were hospitalized in intensive care at  San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela Province, both 87-years-old.

The UNED University provides a daily updated number of patients infected in each district throughout the country at its  Covid-19 Map.

As of Tuesday night, 2,561,044 people have been confirmed infected worldwide. The pandemic has killed 176,984 patients and 679,817 patients made a full recovery, according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.


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Should the government transfer more funds to the Clodomiro Picado Research Institute to speed up the process to find a covid-19 cure?    We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com