Eli Lilly said March 10 its COVID-19 antibody cocktail reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 87 percent during a recent phase 3 study.
The FDA granted emergency use authorization Feb. 9 to the antibody cocktail, a combination of antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab. The agency granted emergency use authorization to bamlanivimab alone Nov. 9.
Eli Lilly's announcement is based on a phase 3 study involving 769 high-risk patients ages 12 and older with mild to moderate COVID-19. It is the drugmaker's second announcement of positive phase 3 trial results for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail, as it said Jan. 26 that the treatment reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 70 percent.
On Feb. 23, the National Institutes of Health updated its COVID-19 treatment guidelines to recommend the use of the antibody cocktail to treat outpatients with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 who are at high risk of clinical progression. On Feb. 26, the U.S. purchased 100,000 doses of the antibody cocktail for $210 million.
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