The U.S. has agreed to buy up to 1.25 million doses of Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody drug to be used in nonhospitalized patients, the drugmaker said Jan. 12.
The government agreed to purchase all doses of the antibody cocktail delivered by June 30, which could be as many as 1.25 million doses. The deal is worth up to $2.6 billion. Under a previous contract, the U.S. purchased about 300,000 doses of the drug, though the financial terms weren't disclosed.
"Patients in our antibody cocktail outpatient clinical trial experienced significant reductions in virus levels and required fewer medical visits for COVID-19, suggesting the therapy can help reduce the current burden on hospitals and healthcare systems," said George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, Regeneron's chief scientific officer.
Dr. Yancopoulos added that because the drug is a combination of two different antibodies, it reduces the likelihood that newly discovered virus strains would resist the drug.
Regeneron is testing the safety and efficacy of a lower dose of the drug. The currently approved version of the drug uses a 2,400 mg dose, but the drugmaker is testing whether a 1,200 mg dose would work.
The drugmaker said if the 1,200 mg dose is authorized, it should be able to fulfill the entire 1.25 million doses, but if not, it expects to supply about 750,000 doses by the end of June.
Read the full news release here.
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