Regeneron’s COVID-19 Antibody Appears to Help Nonhospitalized Patients

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals yesterday unveiled early data on its COVID-19 antibody cocktail in which the drug appeared to provide a benefit for nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The New York-based drugmaker presented the first data from a phase 1/2/3 trial of REGN-COV2 compared to a placebo in addition to standard of care in 275 COVID-19 patients being treated in an outpatient setting.

Only 7.7 percent of patients treated with a high dose of the antibody and 4.9 percent of patients given a low dose required additional medical visits, compared to 15.2 percent of those on placebo. The more virus patients had in their systems, the greater the reduction in the viral load compared to placebo, the company said.

The phase 2/3 portion of the trial will enroll 1,300 patients who will be followed for 29 days to track viral shedding in the upper respiratory tract.

REGN-COV2 is currently in three other late-stage trials for COVID-19. Earlier this month, it was added to the UK’s RECOVERY trial aimed at finding effective COVID-19 treatments. The cocktail is also in phase 3 testing in the U.S. for hospitalized COVID-19 patients and for preventing COVID-19 in the household contacts of infected individuals (DID, Sept. 15). — Jordan Williams