HHS on Nov. 23 said it would rapidly distribute Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody drug to states, prioritizing areas of the country that have been affected the most by COVID-19 surges.
The treatment is a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, two antibodies that fight against COVID-19. The FDA granted the antibody cocktail emergency use authorization Nov. 21, allowing it to be administered intravenously as a one-time treatment for COVID-19 patients age 12 and over who weigh at least 88 pounds and have a high risk of their case becoming severe.
HHS funded large-scale manufacturing of the drug in July. It is distributing about 300,000 doses that resulted from the initiative to state and local health departments, which will allocate doses to healthcare facilities.
The department will use a data-powered system to determine how the drug is allocated, prioritizing hard-hit regions. Weekly distribution plans will be based on states' confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past week as well as data that hospitals and state health departments submit to HHS.
"We have worked with state and territory partners to refine the process based on experience with previous therapeutics and diagnostics and now expect that after pulling this weekly data, shipments can be on their way within hours," HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec, MD, said in a news release.