Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it had begun human trials of a new antibody cocktail for Covid-19, part of an ambitious clinical-testing plan that could lead to a new treatment option by the end of summer if all goes well.
In a statement, the company said it will test a two-antibody combination in a wide variety of people, including those already sick with Covid-19, as well as healthy people at high risk of being exposed to the virus.
“Our data suggests putting together multiple antibodies could really be the key to having a major impact on the virus,” said George Yancopoulos, the company’s co-founder and chief scientific officer, in an interview. He said lab studies that Regeneron plans to publish soon show the coronavirus will quickly develop resistance to a single antibody-based treatment but that when multiple antibodies are combined the virus doesn’t fight them off.
Antibodies discovered by drug companies aim to mimic the body’s natural immune-system response by blocking the so-called spike protein the virus uses to invade human cells. Such monoclonal antibodies are considered one of the most promising types of coronavirus treatments under development. They have the potential to be used flexibly, both to treat sick patients but also, at lower doses, to prevent the disease in people who are at high risk of exposure
Numerous companies, including GlaxoSmithKline Plc and AstraZeneca Plc, are working to develop coronavirus antibody treatments. Earlier this month, Eli Lilly & Co. said it had started human tests of an antibody treatment it developed with AbCellera Biologics.
In its statement, Regeneron, based in Tarrytown, New York, said its antibody might be ready long before vaccines are widely available. And even if a vaccine works, antibody cocktails may still be useful long-term for elderly patients or those with weak immune systems, who often don’t respond well to vaccines.
The first part of the Regeneron study, aimed at assessing the safety of the cocktail, will include roughly 50 to 100 patients who already have Covid-19. But if the cocktail is safe in that initial group, Regeneron plans very quickly to expand the trial into a four-part study that will ultimately include thousands of patients, Yancopoulos said. The larger part of the study could start to yield results in a couple months, he said.
Regeneron’s trial will include hospitalized Covid-19 patients, less-sick coronavirus patients in the community and two groups of people who are high risk of coming down with the disease, including those who could be exposed because of their jobs as well as people who have close contact with a Covid-19 patient in their household.
If the study goes well, “by the end of the summer we might have data that might support more widespread use,” said Yancopoulos.
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