Eli Lilly has begun dosing COVID-19 patients in a phase 1 trial of its AbCellera-partnered antibody. The initiation of the trial, which happened ahead of schedule, marks the start of a new phase of the response to SARS-CoV-2 in which study subjects will receive drugs designed specifically for the virus.
The first clinical trials of drugs to treat COVID-19 involved molecules that had already been tested in other indications. In parallel, researchers began racing to develop therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 from the ground up and put them through preclinical assessments to support their use in humans. Lilly joined the race to create new drugs against the virus by partnering with AbCellera in mid-March.
At the time, AbCellera and Lilly set themselves the goal of getting an anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody into the clinic within four months. Less than three months later, Lilly has disclosed the initiation of a trial of the AbCellera-partnered LY-CoV555, ahead of schedule and before other R&D groups.
Gilead Says Drug Helped Moderately Ill Coronavirus Patients
A California biotech company says its experimental drug remdesivir improved symptoms when given for five days to moderately ill, hospitalized patients with COVID-19.Gilead Sciences gave few details on Monday but said full results would soon be published in a medical journal.
Remdesivir is the only treatment that’s been shown in a rigorous experiment to help fight the coronavirus. A large study led by the National Institutes of Health recently found it could shorten average recovery time from 15 days to 11 days in hospitalized patients with severe disease.The drug is given through an IV and is designed to interfere with an enzyme the virus uses to copy its genetic material. It’s approved for treating COVID-19 in Japan and is authorized for emergency use in the United States for certain patients.