Eli Lilly announced on Wednesday that the antibody to fight coronavirus reduces the risk of hospitalization and death from the disease by 87%.
In a new study of 769 patients at high risk for COVID-19, the company said four people in the placebo group had died from coronavirus. No one died who took antibody treatment, which combines bamlanivimab and etesevimabits.
Wednesday’s announcement made public the results of Eli Lilly’s second large-scale combined drug study.
The results of the previous study, launched in January, found that a higher dose of drugs reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 70%. Lowering the dose to get better results could help expand the supply of Eli Lilly.
“These compelling data … provide healthcare providers with additional information on the use of bamlanivimab and etesevimab as potential life-saving treatments to help those most at risk for severe COVID-19 complications,” said Daniel Skovronsky. , the scientific head of Eli Lilly. officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories.
U.S. regulators first approved the drug in February for use in coronavirus patients 12 years of age and older who are at high risk for a severe case of COVID-19. It was approved for use in Europe earlier this month.
The promising results come as experts express concern about the number of cases across the country. While all cases appear to have flattened, new infectious variants of the disease have spread to the United States.
“The consistent results observed in several cohorts of this study over several months, even though new COVID-19 strains have emerged, indicate that bamlanivimab with etesevimab maintains its effects against a range of variants, especially those circulating in USA, ”said Skovronsky.