Pharmacists are rushing to develop a new generation of Covid-19 drugs to make them easier to administer to patients and stay ahead of virus mutations that can make some current drugs less effective.
The drugs, known as monoclonal antibodies, are laboratory-designed versions of antibodies that simulate the body’s natural immune response to viruses. They are considered one of the most promising to prevent infected patients from developing severe or fatal symptoms and keep them out of the hospital. After picking up Covid-19, President Trump was treated with one of the drugs and credited it for his speedy recovery. Doctors say the drugs will continue to be important treatments in the near future, as vaccines become more widely available.
When the first generation of drugs was authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration in November to treat patients who were not yet sick enough to be hospitalized, public health officials feared that there was not enough for everyone. But these concerns have given way to the frustration that the drugs are not used due to the challenges in administering the drugs, which may require about an hour of preparation before the patient arrives, an infusion of one hour and an hour of monitoring to ensure that patients do not experience allergic reactions.
To reduce the logistical burden and help treat patients more quickly, researchers are working on new antibiotic drugs that can be administered with quick strokes to the arm, similar to flu vaccines. They would allow patients to be treated quickly after being diagnosed with Covid-19, said Michel C. Nussenzweig, an immunologist and professor at Rockefeller University in New York.
“It changes everything because you can get that CVS injection and go to your doctor’s office,” said Dr. Nussenzweig, whose lab developed an antibody combination that recently started initial Phase 1 safety studies. “Intravenous administration is a headache. It is a complicated thing to do. “