Monoclonal antibody treatment by Eli Lilly found to cut risk of serious COVID-19, drugmaker reports

A drug developed by Eli Lilly and Company dramatically reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 among nursing home residents, the company found.

Of 299 residents, half of whom received a placebo, those randomized to receive the drug bamlanivimab had up to an 80% lower risk of contracting COVID-19, according to a study that has not yet been published.

Health care providers at the same nursing homes also were statistically less likely to contract symptomatic COVID-19 after receiving bamlanivimab, which was delivered in a 4,200 mg dose. Among 41 residents who already tested positive for the virus, none died after receiving the drug compared to 4 deaths in the placebo group.

The BLAZE-2 COVID-19 prevention trial was conducted in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Bamlanivimab, which is authorized for use in high-risk COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate disease, is a so-called monoclonal antibody – meaning it provides a manufactured version of antibodies the immune system naturally makes to fight an infection.

“The results of this innovative study further support the belief that bamlanivimab – and potentially other monoclonal antibodies – can reduce symptoms and may even prevent COVID-19,” Dr. Myron S. Cohen, who helped lead the study and directs the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a prepared statement.

“The antiviral activity seen with bamlanivimab treatment emphasizes the importance of early intervention to help counter the devastating impact the virus has had in this vulnerable population and other high-risk patients.”

The federal government has bought hundreds of thousands of doses of bamlanivimab and a similar drug from Regeneron, which former President Donald Trump received when he was sick with COVID-19.

Most of those doses have gone unused so far, because the drugs must be given to patients not yet sick enough to be hospitalized. They are also delivered via hour-long infusions at a time when patients are highly contagious.

More information on obtaining monoclonal antibodies is available at covid.infusioncenter.org.

Thu, January 21, 2021

https://www.yahoo.com/