Eli Lilly announced Wednesday that his antibody drug to fight coronavirus reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from disease by 87%.
In a new study of 769 patients with high-risk COVID-19, the company said four people in the placebo group died from the coronavirus. No one died who took antibody treatment, which combines bamlanivimab and etesevimabits.
Wednesday’s announcement unveiled the results of Eli Lilly’s second major final-phase study of the combined drug.
The results of the previous study, published in January, found that a higher dose of medications reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 70 percent. Dose reduction for best results could help expand supplies to Eli Lilly.
“These compelling data … provide healthcare providers with additional information on the use of bamlanivimab and etesevimab together as a potentially life-saving treatment to help those most at risk for serious complications of COVID-19,” said Daniel Skovronsky , chief Eli Lilly scientist officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories.
U.S. regulators first approved the drug in February for use in patients with coronavirus 12 years and older who were at high risk for a severe case of COVID-19. Its use in Europe was approved earlier this month.
Promising results come when experts express concern about the number of cases across the country. While total cases appear to have spread, new infectious variants of the disease have also spread across the U.S.
“The consistent results observed in multiple cohorts of this trial over several months, even as new COVID-19 strains have emerged, indicate that bamlanivimab with etesevimab maintains its effects against a number of variants, especially those that circulating in the US, ”Skovronsky said.