US Allows First Emergency Use of a COVID-19 Antibody Drug
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:
US allows 1st emergency use of a COVID-19 antibody drug:
U.S. health officials have allowed emergency use of the first antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental approach against the virus that has killed more than 238,000 Americans.
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared the experimental drug from Eli Lilly for people 12 and older with mild or moderate COVID-19 not requiring hospitalization. It's a one-time treatment given through an IV.
The therapy is still undergoing additional testing to establish its safety and effectiveness. It is similar to a treatment President Donald Trump received after contracting the virus last month.
Early results suggest the drug, called bamlanivimab, may help clear the coronavirus sooner and possibly cut hospitalizations in people with mild to moderate COVID-19. A study of it in hospitalized patients was stopped when independent monitors saw the drug did not seem to be helping in that situation.
[...] The new drug is part of an emerging family of biologic therapies that offer a promising new approach to preventing serious disease and death from COVID-19. Experts say the infused drugs could serve as a therapeutic bridge to help manage the virus until vaccines are widely available.
The drugs are laboratory-made versions of antibodies, blood proteins which the body creates to help target and eliminate foreign infections. The new therapies are concentrated versions of the antibodies that proved most effective against the virus in patient studies.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.