COVID-19

World’s First Human Trial of Potential Medicine for COVID-19 Begins


Last Monday, June 1, 2020, Eli Lilly and Company, an American pharmaceutical company, announced that they have started the human trial for the world’s first study of a potential antibody treatment for COVID-19.

What is LY-CoV555?

LY-CoV555 is a potent, neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that is the first potential medicine specifically designed to neutralize the virus by blocking viral attachment and entry into the human cell.


The antibody is intended to attack the virus that causes COVID-19 which is the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Furthermore, in the statement by Daniel Skovronsky, MD., Ph.D., Lilly’s Chief Scientific Officer and President of Lilly Research Laboratories, he said that antibody therapies like the LY-CoV555 may have the potential for both prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Skovronsky also said that the potential treatment may be particularly important for groups hardest hit by COVID-19 which are the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. 

How LY-CoV555 was developed

LY-CoV555 is a collaboration between Eli Lilly and Company and AbCellera.

Lilly scientists were able to develop it in just three (3) months. It was identified from the blood sample of one of the first patients in the US who recovered from COVID-19 by AbCellera and the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The goal of the LY-Cov555 Phase 1 Trial

According to Lilly, the placebo-controlled trial aims to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of LY-CoV555 following a single dose administered to participants hospitalized for COVID-19. 

The company also shared that result of the first trial is expected by the end of June

On the other hand, according to the company’s Chief Scientific Officer, later this month they will review the results of the first human study and intend to initiate broader efficacy trials. 

Skovronsky also revealed that while they are investigating the safety and efficacy of the trial, they are already starting large-scale manufacturing of the potential therapy in order to be able to deliver the treatment to patients as soon as possible.

” If LYCov555 becomes part of the near term-solution for COVID-19, we want to be ready to deliver it to the patient as quickly as possible, with the goal of having several hundred thousand doses available by the end of the year.”

– Statement of Daniel Skovronsky, MD., Ph.D.

First Patients on Trial

The first patients who were dosed with the potential antibody treatment for the first trial are currently admitted at major medical institutions in U.S. which includes New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

What will happen after the Phase 1 Trial?

Lilly will move to the next phase of testing where they’ll study LY-CoV555 in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients if the results of the Phase 1 trial shows that the antibody can be safely administered.

Furthermore, Lilly plans to study the drug in a preventive setting that will focus on vulnerable patient populations who historically are not optimal candidates for vaccines.

SOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company

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