Drug Discovery and Development

HHS pauses use of Lilly’s COVID-19 antibody cocktail in several states

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SARS-CoV-2

This colorized scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), the virus that causes COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. [Image courtesy of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended pausing the combination of Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:LLY) bamlanivimab/etesevimab in eight states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Oregon and Washington. 

The agency’s reasoning for the decision is grounded in lab data that found the antibody cocktail is not effective against P.1 (Brazilian) or B.1.351 (South African) variants. Those variants comprise more than 10% of COVID-19 infections in the eight states mentioned above. 

HHS still recommends Regeneron’s (NSDQ:REGN) REGEN-COV antibody cocktail in areas with significant spread of the P.1 and B.1.351 variants. 

Earlier this year, FDA withdrew the EUA for Lilly’s bamlanivimab but continued to authorize its use when paired with etesevimab. The reasoning for doing so was that bamlanivimab alone was ineffective against some SARS-CoV-2 variants. 

Filed Under: Infectious Disease
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About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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