Tens of thousands of high-risk Israelis can now receive antibody treatment as outpatients in hospitals as soon as they are diagnosed with COVID-19, in the hope that this will prevent deterioration to serious illnesses.
The Ministry of Health has a stock of thousands of doses of Bamlanivimab, made in the USA, which is specifically intended for non-serious patients. She started distributing them to doctors, who are now offering two-hour infusion-based treatment to outpatients in certain high-risk categories with a positive test for the virus.
Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem became the first institution to start giving treatment on Monday, administering it to four outpatients, and other hospitals must follow.
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Bamlanivimab is made up of monoclonal antibodies, which are proteins made in the laboratory that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight harmful antigens, including viruses.
“We hope to see this treatment changing the course of the disease and preventing people from deteriorating,” Hadassah director-general Zeev Rotstein told The Times of Israel. “Ideally, we want to administer it before people have symptoms or while the symptoms are still mild – the sooner the better.
“We know that if we give it out widely, for some people it will be in vain, but we think it can prevent many from getting sick,” he said. “It is believed that it slows the growth of the virus and reduces the chances of serious illnesses.”
A Hadassah nurse holding Bamlanivimab monoclonal antibody treatment (courtesy of Hadassah Medical Center)
Ian Miskin, an infectious disease doctor who heads coronavirus treatment for health care provider Clalit, was more circumspect. He told The Times of Israel that his doctors will refer patients for treatment at Hadassah – and possibly other hospitals in due course – but is reserving judgment on his performance. “It is not a magical solution,” he said, adding that, although the extent of its benefits remains unclear, “it does no harm.”
Bamlanivimab received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November.
Zeev Rotstein, director of Hadassah Medical Center (courtesy of Hadassah Medical Center)
The FDA reported that, although the safety and efficacy of the drug were still being assessed, it was noted that it “reduced COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk of disease progression within 28 days after treatment when compared to a placebo. ”
Hadassah’s Ein Kerem campus is offering treatment to COVID-positive patients arriving by ambulance provided by their doctor, as required by virus isolation rules, and who are on immunosuppressive drugs, chemotherapy, dialysis, or who have had organ transplants or taking medication or inhalers for lung disease.
It is intended primarily for residents of the Jerusalem area, but if health professionals offer to bring people from other areas of Israel, they will be accepted.
Rotstein said he has high hopes for antibodies, but stressed, “This treatment is not a substitute for vaccines.”