Congressman Sires Announces Over $5 Million Grant for Hackensack Meridian Health

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ) announced that Hackensack Meridian Health received a $5,500,000 grant from the Department of Defense for their work on a convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19.

“Hackensack Meridian Health plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of residents in the 8^th District and across New Jersey,” Said Rep. Sires. “Their research into treatments for COVID-19 patients is groundbreaking, and these federal funds will help to conduct further clinical testing.”

The federal funds awarded in this grant can be used to advance clinical phase 2 testing of the treatment. Researchers at Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center and Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) have been working on a convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19 patients. This treatment would be administered to patients within the first 96 hours after contracting the virus in an effort to minimize the severity of the virus.