LONDON – Eli Lilly said Wednesday that his antibody-based drug has recently shown hospital admissions rates for coronavirus patients diagnosed with mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19.
U.S. The drugmaker said it tested three different doses of LY-Covy 555 against a placebo in a trial registering about 450 patients. A moderate dose of 2,800 mg completes the trial goal of significantly reducing the presence of SARS-Co-2 after 11 days.
Other doses of the antibody-drug, including a dose of 700 mg and a dose of 7,000 mg, failed to meet the target.
The announcement comes at a time when many are keeping a close eye on the development of antibody drugs as a potential bridge to the coronavirus vaccine.
To date, more than 29.5 million people have contracted Covid-19 worldwide, with 935,591 related deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“These interim data from the Blaze-1 trial indicate that the antibody LY-CoV5 a5 directed against SARS-CoV-2 has a direct antiviral effect and may be admitted to a covid-related hospital,” said Daniel Skvronski, Lily’s chief scientific officer. And President Lily Research Laboratories said in a statement.
“The results strengthen our conviction that inactivating antibodies can help in the fight against COVID-19,” said Schwronsky.
Shares of Eli Lilly rose nearly 2.6% in the pre-market shortly after the announcement.
LY-CoV555 belongs to a class of treatments known as monoclonal antibodies. It is designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells, thus neutralizing the virus and potentially preventing and treating coronavirus.
Alibidi, developed by Ally Lilly and Abseller, was taken from a blood sample from one of the first U.S. patients to recover from Covid-19.
Eli Lilly is one of the many companies developing antibody drugs, along with GlaxoSmithKline and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
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