Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced on Tuesday that its treatment with COVID-19 antibodies has proven in a clinical study to dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization or death among patients tested positive for the virus.
The company announced on its website that a trial involving more than 4,500 patients indicated that Regeneron’s treatment reduced both risks by 70 percent.
The drug cocktail was also effective in shortening the recovery time from two weeks to 10 days, according to the company’s findings.
All 4,567 patients involved in the Regeneron study had at least one risk factor that put them at high risk for hospitalization or death from illness, such as obesity or heart problems, according to the company’s website.
“With approximately 60,000 newly diagnosed individuals in the US every day and 40,000 still in the hospital because of COVID-19, we are committed to working with the government, healthcare providers and others to support the rapid and widespread adoption of REGEN-COV in appropriate patients, “Regeneron President George Yancopoulos said in a press release.
“These encouraging results confirm the rapid and significant antiviral effects of REGEN-COV, even at much lower and subcutaneous doses,” added David Weinreich, head of global clinical development at Regeneron.
News of the effectiveness of Regeneron’s treatment comes several months after Eli Lilly announced that her own antibody treatment has proven to be significantly effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 among employees and residents of nursing homes where the drug was tested.
The US reported 650 deaths from COVID-19 on Monday and more than 55,000 new infections.