Antibodies, already authorised to treat mild to moderate Covid-19, could soon also be used to prevent the virus, a study of Lilly’s bamlanivimab in nursing homes suggests. To be eligible for the trial, called Blaze-2, nursing homes had to have had at least one confirmed coronavirus case. Across residents and staff receiving bamlanivimab, there was a 57% reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 compared with those receiving placebo. Among residents the figure was even more impressive, with an 80% reduction with bamlanivimab versus placebo. Lilly plans to speak to regulators about expanding bamlanivimab’s EUA; however, there are questions about the role of the antibody if the vaccine rollout goes well. The logistics of infusing nursing home residents on a large scale might be also be tricky. Other antibody developers are looking at prevention, and a notable player here is Astrazeneca with AZD7442, a long-acting antibody. This is given intramuscularly, which could give it an edge over bamlanivimab and Regeneron’s casirivimab/imdevimab, which are both intravenous. Glaxosmithkline also has a long-acting project, the intravenous VIR-7831, but that does not appear to be in any prevention studies; the pivotal Comet-Ice trial in outpatients is set to read out this quarter.
| Selected prevention studies with Covid-19 antibodies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project | Company | Trial | Setting | Data? |
| Bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555)* | Lilly | Blaze-2**(NCT04497987) | Prevention in nursing home residents and staff | Positive data reported |
| Casirivimab + imdevimab (REGN-COV2)*** | Regeneron | Study 2069 (NCT04452318) | Prevention in household contacts of Covid-19 patients | Due H1 2021 |
| AZD7442 | Astrazeneca | Provent (NCT04625725) | "Pre-exposure prophylaxis" | Due H1 2021 |
| Storm Chaser (NCT04625972) | "Post-exposure prophylaxis" | |||
| *Trial also includes combo with LY-CoV016 in treatment; **Conducted with NIAID; ***Subcutaneous formulation. Source: clinicaltrials.gov & EvaluatePharma. https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/snippets/lillys-blazes-trail-covid-19-prevention | ||||
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