Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly said Wednesday that the combination of two antibody drugs to fight the coronavirus reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by 87 percent.
The finding is based on a study of 769 high-risk COVID-19 patients 12 years of age and older with mild to moderate COVID-19.
The company said no patients who were treated with the combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab died. Four people who were in the placebo group died from the corona virus.
“I expect this data will continue to drive the use of the antibodies,” said Daniel Skovronsky, Chief Scientific Officer at Eli Lilly.
“We have few other diseases where we have drugs that can provide this great benefit.”
This was the second large late-stage study to show that the antibody therapy is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.
The previous study, unveiled in January, used a higher dose of the drugs and reduced the risk of hospitalization by 70 percent.
US regulators first approved the combination therapy in February for use in COVID-19 patients 12 years and older who are at high risk of developing a serious case of the virus.
That month, the US agreed to purchase a minimum of 100,000 doses of the combination treatment.
With pole wires