LONDON – After a number of equivocal small studies, the U.K. Recovery trial has applied its heft to turn in statistically significant evidence that the rheumatoid arthritis treatment Roactemra (tocilizumab) reduces mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Results of a futility analysis prompted Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. to continue the phase III study of its virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, a REGN-10933 and REGN-10987 cocktail for treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are seronegative and need low-flow oxygen.
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.
Roche Holding AG, already advancing multiple therapies and diagnostics for COVID-19, is adding its support for Boston-based Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s AT-527 to the lineup.
LONDON – Clinical care guidelines recommending the use of the HIV/AIDS combination lopinavir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 must now be updated, say the authors of a paper reporting the full results of a randomized U.K. study.
LONDON – Clinical care guidelines recommending the use of the HIV/AIDS combination lopinavir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 must now be updated, say the authors of a paper reporting the full results of a randomized U.K. study showing the antiviral is not effective in this context, published in The Lancet on Oct. 5.
As his firm unveiled early data with its spike protein-targeting COVID-19 therapy, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s chief scientific officer, George Yancopoulos, said that, even if researchers come up with a drug that works, coming up with efficient point-of-care diagnostics remains “a major societal imperative.”
Missing the primary endpoint along with key secondary endpoints in a phase III trial of Kevzara (sarilumab), an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antibody, for treating COVID-19 patients who need mechanical ventilation caused Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA to halt the study.