https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/lilly-covid-19-antibody-combo-cuts-hospitalizations-and-deaths-by-87
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Eli Lilly's COVID-19 antibody combo already boasts an FDA authorization for patients at a high risk of developing severe disease, but now the company has even stronger data backing the duo.
In trial data released Wednesday, the company said its bamlanivimab-etesevimab duo slashed the risk of hospitalization and death by a whopping 87% versus placebo. Investigators tested a combination of 700 mg of bamlanivimab and 1400 mg of etesevimab in a trial comprising 769 patients total.
It's the starkest reduction in hospitalizations and deaths for a COVID-19 therapeutic seen so far, and in a "fairly sizable" sample size, Lilly's COVID-19 therapeutics platform leader Janelle Sabo said in an interview.
Lilly's combo previously posted a 70% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths at higher doses of 2800 mg each. The new trial used the doses now authorized by the FDA in newly diagnosed patients at high risk of severe diseasethe same population the combo is approved to treat.
The combo scored its emergency nod last month on the heels of the earlier data. Lilly has partnered with Amgen to help produce up to 1 million doses of the cocktail this year.
Patients over 65, or those under 65 but who are overweight or have multiple health problems, qualify as high-risk for treatment with the drug. For patients under 65, it's "about looking at the combination of weight" and other factors, Sabo said.
In the new study, investigators tracked four hospitalizations and zero deaths among patients who received the Lilly antibody combo. That compared with 11 hospitalizations and four deaths for patients on placebo.
In the two phase 3 cohorts so far, zero patients who received the antibody combination have died, while 14 patients died on placebo. Thirteen of those placebo deaths were deemed to be related to COVID-19.
