(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co said Wednesday that the combination of antibody therapy to combat COVID-19 reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 87% in a study of more than 750 high-risk COVID-19 patients.
It is the second large late-stage study to show that combination therapy of two antibodies, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.
The previous study, which released data in January, used a higher dose of the drugs and reduced the risk of hospitalization by 70%.
“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.”
US regulators approved the combination therapy in February for use in COVID-19 patients 12 years of age and older who are at high risk of developing serious complications. European regulators gave the green light for its use in March.
The United States agreed in February to purchase a minimum of 100,000 doses of the combination treatment.
Regulators approved bamlanivimab only for use against COVID-19 last year, and the US government agreed to purchase nearly 1.5 million doses.
Skovronsky said the combination therapy has the advantage of providing more protection against new strains of COVID-19.
A variant of COVID-19 originally discovered in Britain has infected patients in most US states and is expected to become the country’s dominant species. (Image: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
“We’re pretty sure this combination will cover all variants in the US,” said Skovronsky, adding that Lilly is studying an additional treatment for new COVID strains first identified in South Africa and Brazil, which are not widespread. are in the United States.
Skovronsky said Lilly is ready to produce 1 million doses of the combination therapy in the coming months and is actively in talks to provide governments around the world with the treatment.
Reporting by Carl O’Donnell and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker