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The FDA
said Monday it had issued an emergency use authorization for Eli Lilly's
monoclonal antibody therapy to treat mild to moderate coronavirus
infections in adults and children.
The single antibody treatment, called bamlanivimab, must be
infused in a hospital or other health care setting -- and the FDA says the
treatment should be given as soon as possible after a positive Covid-19 test
result, within 10 days of the onset of symptoms.
It is the first monoclonal antibody to be authorized for use in
treating coronavirus. The idea is to kick-start an immune response against
infection.
"The FDA's emergency authorization of bamlanivimab
provides health care professionals on the frontline of this pandemic with
another potential tool in treating Covid-19 patients," Dr. Patrizia
Cavazzoni, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and
Research, said in the statement. "We will continue to evaluate new data
on the safety and efficacy of bamlanivimab as they become available."
Regeneron has also applied for an emergency use authorization
for its antibody therapy. That's the one given to President Trump last month
when he was hospitalized with Covid-19.
Currently,
79 antibody
therapies are under investigation.
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