A drug developed by Eli Lilly and Company dramatically reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 among nursing home residents, the company found.
Of 299 residents, half of whom received a placebo, those randomized to receive the drug bamlanivimab had an up to 80% lower risk of contracting COVID-19, according to a study that has not yet been published.
Health care providers in the same nursing homes were also statistically less likely to contract symptomatic COVID-19 after receiving bamlanivimab, which was administered at a dose of 4,200 mg. Among 41 residents who tested positive for the virus, none died after receiving the drug, compared with 4 deaths in the placebo group.
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The BLAZE-2 COVID-19 prevention trial was conducted in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Bamlanivimab, which is authorized for use in high-risk COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate disease, is a monoclonal antibody – meaning it provides a manufactured version of antibodies that the immune system naturally produces to fight an infection.
“The results of this groundbreaking study further support the belief that bamlanivimab – and potentially other monoclonal antibodies – can reduce symptoms and may even prevent COVID-19,” Dr. Myron S. Cohen, who helped conduct the study and heads the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a prepared statement.
“The antiviral activity seen with treatment with bamlanivimab emphasizes the importance of early intervention to help contain the devastating impact the virus has had on this vulnerable population and other high-risk patients.”
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The federal government bought hundreds of thousands of doses of bamlanivimab and a similar drug from Regeneron, which former President Donald Trump received when he was ill with COVID-19.
Most of these doses have not been used so far, because the drugs must be administered to patients who are not yet sick enough to be hospitalized. They are also administered via one-hour infusions at a time when patients are highly contagious.
More information on obtaining monoclonal antibodies is available at covid.infusioncenter.org
Contact Karen Weintraub at [email protected]
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This article was originally published in USA TODAY: Eli Lilly reports that his treatment with monoclonal antibody reduces the risk of COVID-19