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Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company announced Monday that patients have been dosed in the world's first study of a potential antibody treatment designed to fight COVID-19.
According to a news release, this investigational medicine -- referred to as LY-CoV555 -- is the first to emerge from the collaboration between Lilly and AbCellera to create antibody therapies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Lilly scientists developed the antibody after AbCellera and the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) identified it from a blood sample taken from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from COVID-19. Lilly says it's the first potential new medicine specifically designed to attack the virus that causes COVID-19.
The first patients in the study were dosed at major medical centers in the U.S., including NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
If Phase 1 results show the antibody can be safely administered, Lilly says it expects to move into the next phase of testing, studying the treatment in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The company also plans to study the drug in a preventative setting, focusing on vulnerable patient populations who historically are not optimal candidates for vaccines.
Lilly says it is researching multiple approaches to treating COVID-19.
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