Eli Lilly & Co. said its antibody-based drug prevented Covid-19 among many residents and employees of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, results that point to vaccines that complement the drug as inoculations increase.
The drug, called bamlanivimab, reduced the risk of employees and residents becoming ill with Covid-19 by about 57% compared to a placebo, Lilly said on Thursday. The effect was most pronounced among residents, the company said, an 80% reduction in Covid-19 risk.
The findings signal the potential for a new preventive weapon that could increase the incipient Covid-19 vaccination effort to contain the pandemic.
Lilly said it would ask U.S. health regulators to expand the authorized use of the drug to include protecting people in long-term care facilities where someone was recently diagnosed with Covid-19.
The partial results were from a last stage, or Phase 3, a study carried out in partnership with the National Institutes of Health. Lilly released the data in a press release and said it plans to publish the full results in a peer-reviewed medical journal.