In the USA, 100 thousand doses of antibody drugs will be purchased to treat patients infected with the new variant of Coronavirus (Covid-19), but not yet hospitalized.

The US Department of Health announced that it has ordered 100 thousand doses of an antibody combination developed by the Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly for Covid-19 patients who are at serious risk of infection but have not yet been hospitalized.

In the statement made by the Ministry, it was stated that 210 million dollars will be paid for 100 thousand doses to be supplied from the company that received approval for emergency use from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) at the beginning of this month, and the number of doses to be purchased may exceed 1 million until November depending on the course of the pandemic.

It was noted that the combination of antibodies in question is a “monoclonal” cocktail of antibodies consisting of a combination of drugs called “bamlanivimab” and “etesevimab”, which received permission for use for the treatment of Covid-19 in November 2020.

Both drugs are artificial copies of antibodies that the human body's immune system naturally produces in its battle with an infection, while the antibody treatment method was also used for former US President Donald Trump who was diagnosed with Covid-19.

Source: AA