Can a ‘cocktail’ of antibodies prevent COVID-19 infection?

In a new clinical trial, UC Davis Health will test the efficacy and safety of REGN-COV2, the cocktail of monoclonal antibodies, in preventing COVID-19 in adults living with infected patients. The drug was recently administered to President Donald Trump as part of his treatment for SAR-CoV-2 infection. It is still in the experimental clinical stage as a possible treatment and prevention for COVID-19.

Stuart Cohen, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Prevention at UC Davis Health, will oversee the clinical trial and help recruit participants.

“At UC Davis Health we are very excited to be part of this clinical trial and to study the antibodies that have been used in the past to prevent many viral infections, such as hepatitis B, after exposure,” said Cohen. “We will test the ability of REGN-COV2 to prevent COVID-19 infection in people who have had close exposure to a diagnosed patient, such as a household member.”

The trial, sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, is in Phase III to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of REGN-COV2 in adults with no history of SAR-Cov-2 infection but living with someone who has COVID-19. Study participants will be randomly assigned to an experimental group that receives the active drug or a control group that takes the placebo. As a double-blind study, both the participants and the researchers will not know the group assignments.

Participants must have been in close contact with the infected person for no more than 96 hours before receiving REGN-CoV-2 or placebo. The trial seeks to determine if it can prevent infection for a month after administration of the drug.

On October 6, the UC Davis Health team enrolled their first patient.

The antibody cocktail as a possible preventive measure for COVID-19

Regeneron developed the REGN-COV2 antibodies (a combination of REGN10933 + REGN10987 antibodies) to bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and block its interaction with the host receptor. The trial is based on encouraging findings from a set of studies that showed the neutralizing impact of REGN10933 and REGN10987. In addition to this clinical trial, UC Davis Health is participating in the testing of this antibody combination as a treatment for patients with COVID-19.

According to Regeneron, the antibody approaches could serve as an important “bridge” until a vaccine is widely available.

The clinical study (no NCT04452318) is titled “A phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of anti-spike SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies to prevent SARS-Cov infection -2 in household contacts of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 “.