Shares of Humanigen Inc. (NASDAQ:HGEN) leapt 54.5% to $21.61 March 29 on news that its monoclonal antibody, lenzilumab, improved the relative likelihood of survival without mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, setting the company up to submit an application for emergency use authorization (EUA) in the U.S. "as soon as possible," it said. Separately, a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, the Eli Lilly and Co.-Abcellera Biologics Inc.-developed therapy bamlanivimab and the Vir Biotechnology Inc.-Glaxosmithkline plc candidate VIR-7831, demonstrated a 70% relative reduction in persistently high SARS-CoV-2 viral load at day seven compared to placebo for low-risk adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, the companies reported.
Another monoclonal antibody therapy has entered the pandemic fray with the FDA granting emergency use authorization (EUA) for bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) 700 mg and etesevimab (JS016 or LY-CoV016) 1,400 mg as a cocktail for treating mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients aged 12 and up at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.
With the world heading straight into a "very tough" stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic in which "too many countries are seeing an exponential increase in cases," according to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, two lucrative deals announced Oct. 28 showed little slack in efforts to confront the virus, even as evidence is still developing.
The ACTIV-3 phase III study testing Eli Lilly and Co.’s COVID-19 antibody candidate, LY-CoV555, which was paused two weeks ago following a participant’s unexplained illness, has now been halted, the company reported Oct. 26.
Despite an NIH move to pause enrollment in a trial testing Eli Lilly and Co.'s COVID-19 antibody candidate, LY-CoV555, after a participant's unexplained illness, at least three other studies of the candidate remain underway, the company said Oct. 14.
An NIH-sponsored phase III trial testing Eli Lilly and Co.'s SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody candidate, LY-CoV555, alongside the Gilead Sciences Inc. antiviral Veklury (remdesivir) has been paused at the request of its data safety monitoring board, the company told BioWorld.
With an ongoing phase II trial showing that a pair of its SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies has so far reduced viral load, symptoms and COVID-19-related hospitalization and ER visits, Eli Lilly and Co. has asked the FDA to consider an emergency use authorization (EUA) for one of the components, LY-CoV555.
Since more than 40% of U.S. coronavirus deaths have links to U.S. long-term care facilities, Eli Lilly and Co. is getting on the road with a clinical trial design that takes researchers directly to outbreaks.
Eli Lilly and Co. said June 1 the first patients have been dosed in a phase I test of LY-CoV555, a potential antibody treatment for COVID-19, with results expected by June 30. Should it prove safe, the candidate could quickly move into a phase II trial to assess its efficacy, Ajay Nirula, vice president of immunology at Lilly, told BioWorld.
