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The treatment reduces mortality by a fifth in the serum, and can be used in combination with other treatments.
LONDON (Reuters) – A combination of COVID-19 antibodies developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O) and Roche (ROG.S) has reduced deaths among hospital patients whose immune systems have failed to produce a response, a senior Briton. Found the study on Wednesday.
The treatment, REGEN-COV, has been granted emergency use authorization for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 in the United States, but results from the RECOVERY trial provide the clearest evidence of its effectiveness among hospitalized patients.
It found that antibody treatment reduced by a fifth the 28-day death rate for people admitted to hospital with COVID-19 whose immune system did not provoke an antibody response, known as seronegative.
The result translates to six fewer deaths per 100 seropositive patients treated with the treatment, the researchers said.
There was no clear effect of treatment on those who generated normal antibody responses.
“People were very skeptical, that any treatment against this particular virus would work by the time people were in hospital,” Martin Landray, the trial’s joint chief investigator, told reporters.
“If you haven’t collected your own antibodies, you would really benefit from having them,” he said.
Landray said the treatment also reduced the length of hospital stay for those with serological symptoms and reduced their chances of needing a mechanical ventilator.
Regeneron previously said her treatment showed enough hope in hospitalized patients to justify continuing her trial. These data provide the first widespread confirmation of this assertion. Read more
There were 9,785 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who were randomly assigned to receive usual care in addition to antibody combination therapy or usual care only, and 30% were negative.
The RECOVERY trial also showed that the steroid drug dexamethasone and Roche’s Actemra (tocilizumab) reduced deaths among hospitalized patients. Read more
While these treatments focus on the inflammation caused by a reaction to the coronavirus, Regeneron, which belongs to a class of genetically modified drugs called monoclonal antibodies, mimics the natural antibodies your body produces to fight infection.
“This is the first time we’ve had one that targets the same virus,” Landray said, adding that it could be used in combination with other treatments.
“It’s not a matter of you doing one thing or two. These are additional benefits in these patients,” he said.
possibility for others
Other companies are developing similar treatments.
US emergency use authorization has been granted for antibody therapies developed by Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) as well as Vir Biotechnology Inc (VIR.O) with GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L). Both are approved for use in mild to moderate cases.
On Tuesday, AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said its treatment with the antibodies showed no evidence of protecting people from getting sick after exposure, although other trials of the cocktail as a prevention or treatment are continuing. Read more
Landray said the RECOVERY results should give developers of other monoclonal antibody treatments optimism that they could also be used in some hospitalized patients.
“This opens the door to many others,” he said.
“People see some negative experiences and they say ‘okay, that’s never going to work’ and they unsubscribe and do something else. (But) this picture is very clear, and it’s the picture we got from this experience.”
Regeneron has enlisted the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche to help manufacture the drug.
Some cautioned that the full cost benefit of the drug won’t be clear until more details about the study are available.
“The absolute magnitude of the benefit in mortality is not large, meaning that a significant number (maybe 20) of people would have to be treated with expensive drugs to prevent a single death,” said Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“If[patients]could be easily identified and treated, it would have some benefits in practice, but its benefits should not be overstated.”
(covering by Alistair Smoot; Editing by Bill Bercrot)
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