An antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) such as Regeneron's, called casirivimab and imdevimab, "have the greatest benefit when given early after diagnosis and in patients who have not yet mounted their own immune response or who have high viral load," the company said.
With its acquisition of privately held Oncoimmune Ltd. for an up-front $425 million in cash, Merck & Co. Inc. ups its COVID-19 game with CD24Fc, a recombinant fusion protein targeting the innate immune system that is faring well in treating pandemic patients.
Multiple companies have had their FDA reviews put on hold because coronavirus-related travel restrictions at the FDA has kept their manufacturing plants from being inspected.
LONDON – A third COVID-19 vaccine has turned in positive results in the phase III interim analysis, with Astrazeneca plc/Oxford University reporting an average of 70.4% efficacy across two dose regimens for AZD-1222.
In what the FDA calls “an incremental step” in treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the agency has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Eli Lilly and Co.’s baricitinib in combination with remdesivir.
Citing a lack of evidence that it improves survival, the need for ventilation or time to clinical improvement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised doctors against using Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral Veklury (remdesivir) to treat COVID-19.
RSS
