Setback pauses a second study testing an antibody drug
For the second time, a study testing an experimental antibody drug for COVID-19 has been paused to investigate a possible safety issue in hospitalized patients.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday that independent monitors had recommended placing on hold enrollment of the most severely ill patients — those who need intense oxygen treatment or breathing machines — because of a potential safety problem and unfavorable balance of risks and benefits.
The study can continue to test the two-antibody drug combo in hospitalized patients who need little or no extra oxygen, the monitors said.
Antibodies are proteins the body makes when an infection occurs; they attach to a virus and help eliminate it. But it can take several weeks for the most effective ones to form. The experimental drugs aim to help immediately, by supplying concentrated versions of one or two antibodies that worked best against the coronavirus in lab and animal tests.
Earlier this month, a different group of monitors recommended pausing enrollment in a National Institutes of Health study testing an Eli Lilly antibody drug to investigate a possible safety issue in hospitalized patients. On Monday, the NIH said no safety problem had been verified, but it stopped the study because the drug didn’t seem to work in that situation.
“These kinds of results are informing us about the timing of the benefit,” said Dr. Myron Cohen, a University of North Carolina virologist who advises the government on COVID-19 treatments.
Lilly and Regeneron have asked the Food and Drug Administration to allow emergency use of their experimental antibody drugs for mild and moderately ill patients who don’t need hospitalization.