Regeneron touts ‘antibody cocktail’ virus treatment
Clinical trials show reduced, shortened COVID-19 symptoms
The “antibody cocktail” being developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has proven highly effective in reducing and shortening COVID -19 symptoms, according to test results announced by the company this week.
The cocktail worked well in low, moderate and high doses and Regeneron said it would request approval to move forward with the lower dose, which should allow for more production.
Regeneron’s Regen-cov treatment made headlines last fall when it was given to former President Donald J. Trump who contracted COVID -19 and quickly recovered. The treatment has been permitted under an emergency provision to help fight the pandemic.
In the latest clinical trial results, Regen-cov reduced hospitalizations or death by 70 percent among COVID -19 patients. It also shortened the duration of virus symptoms by four days.
Based in Tarrytown, Westchester County, Regeneron has a significant presence in the Capital Region with a major operations and product supply center in Rensselaer County, employing 3,000 people. The center manufactured the COVID treatment given the former president.
Regeneron is also expanding into a new $800 million manu
facturing complex on 130 acres off Tempel Lane in East Greenbush, near its main plant near Columbia Turnpike.
They have said they plan to employ more than 4,000 people in the Capital Region by the end of 2024.
Unlike the MRNA vaccines currently being distributed by Pfizer and Moderna, Regen-cov is not preventive. But it appears to significantly reduce symptoms and duration for those infected with the virus, tests show.
The cocktail combines two man-made antibodies, Casirvimab and Imdevimab. Doses ranging from 8,000 to 2,400 to 1,200 milligrams seemed to work equally well.
Regeneron has said they could produce about 750,000 doses by the summer, based on the 2,400-milligram level. But if approved at the lower dose, they could produce more, the company has said.
“We will discuss the new data with regulatory authorities and request that the 1,200 mg dose be rapidly added to the U.S. Emergency Use Authorization, in order for the anticipated REGEN-COV supply to be available to treat even more patients,” said Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, president and chief scientific officer at Regeneron
“This is a landmark moment in the fight against COVID -19 as this large well-controlled trial provides conclusive results
demonstrating that REGENCOV can dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in the outpatient setting,” said Dr. Suraj Saggar, trial investigator and chief of infectious disease at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J. “With so many people still getting infected, as well as recent data showing that REGEN-COV addresses emerging variants, these data underscore the need to rapidly adopt REGEN-COV as standardof-care to offer high-risk patients their best chance to reduce serious consequences like hospitalization or death.”
There are currently three vaccines being distributed to the public — from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Pfizer and Moderna use MRNA technology.
Rather than introducing a shortened or attenuated version of the virus to stimulate an immune response, MRNA or messenger RNA, provides genetic instructions to the body’s immune cells to react to the COVID -19 virus.
Regneron shares (Nasdaq: REGN) fell $13.46, or nearly 2.8 percent, to close at $469.76 Tuesday.