Regeneron's Monoclonal Antibody Drug Helps Prevent COVID-19 For Up To 8 Months, Company Trial Results Show
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A single dose of the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy REGEN-COV reduced the risk of contracting the virus by 81.6% for up to eight months, following the drug's administration in a late-stage trial, according to results released by the Regeneron company on Monday.
Monoclonal antibodies are man-made proteins that act like human antibodies in the immune system to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. Four infusions of the Regeneron treatment are considered one dose.
"These results demonstrate that REGEN-COV has the potential to provide long-lasting immunity from SARS-CoV-2 infection, a result particularly important to those who do not respond to COVID-19 vaccines including people who are immunocompromised," Dr. Myron Cohen, a physician in charge of the National Institutes of Health's work on monoclonal antibodies, said in a news release.
A previously published study in the New England Journal of Medicine already showed its effectiveness but this is a new analysis of that data. It came from a trial assessing giving the treatment to one household member if another was sick to see if it could prevent testing positive for the virus.
The results came from 1,684 people who participated in the Phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Regeneron said none of the participants who were injected with a single dose of the 'REGEN-COV' antibody cocktail were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the eight-month trial run, however, six people in the placebo group were hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the results.
The FDA authorized REGEN-COV for emergency use as post-exposure prevention for COVID-19 a year ago, however, the FDA says REGEN-COV is not a substitute for vaccination against COVID-19 and still urges all eligible people to get vaccinated.