Regeneron Drug Found to Help Treat Covid-19 in Early Disease Stage
September 29 2020 - 4:58PM
Dow Jones News
By Joseph Walker
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s experimental Covid-19 drug
helped reduce virus levels and improve symptoms in nonhospitalized
patients, according to a preliminary analysis of clinical trial
data, the company said Tuesday.
Regeneron said the early data is an encouraging sign that its
drug can help treat Covid-19 patients in earlier stages of the
disease, before they are hospitalized. The company said it has
begun discussing the results with regulators.
Regeneron's drug, codenamed REGN-COV2, is part of a class of
medicines known as monoclonal antibodies that are designed in labs
to mimic the naturally occurring antibodies that the immune system
produces to fight off viruses and other foreign invaders.
The drug was most effective in treating patients who hadn't yet
mounted an effective immune response, which the company measured by
testing patients for antiviral antibodies before beginning
treatment. The median number of days it took to alleviate symptoms
in patients without antibodies was eight days among those who
received the highest dose of the drug, six days in those who
received the lowest dose, and 13 days in patients who were given
placebos, Regeneron said.
"The greatest treatment benefit was in patients who had not
mounted their own effective immune response, suggesting that
REGN-COV2 could provide a therapeutic substitute for the naturally
occurring immune response," George D. Yancopoulos, Regeneron
president and chief scientific officer, said in a statement. "These
patients were less likely to clear the virus on their own, and were
at greater risk for prolonged symptoms."
The analysis looked at the first 275 patients enrolled in the
first phases of an ongoing clinical trial to identify the patients
most likely to benefit in later phases of the study. Because the
analysis wasn't part of a preplanned analysis, the findings are
merely descriptive and can't be considered statistically
significant, the company said.
Write to Joseph Walker at joseph.walker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 29, 2020 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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