WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. on Friday said the U.S. government had agreed to buy at least 100,000 doses of its newly authorized COVID-19 double-antibody cocktail for $ 210 million, with doses due by the end of March. word.
The U.S. government has until Nov. 25 to buy up to 1.1 million doses, the company said.
Lilly said it would start with these doses immediately.
The therapy contains two antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab and received permission for emergencies in the US earlier this month.
Like the competitor of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., the dual antibody therapy REGN-COV2, the combination of Lilly has been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients at high risk of progressing to serious illness or hospitalization.
Lilly’s therapy has helped reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients by 70%, according to early late-study data released in January.
Despite the government’s efforts to encourage treatment to keep people out of hospitals, the therapy had a weak demand.
Healthcare systems said the use of the antibodies was slow due to extra complicated levels during the pandemic, including requirements for rapid diagnosis times and the need to isolate infectious patients.
The United States has already agreed to buy 1.45 million doses of bamlanivimab alone, Lilly said, adding that 1 million doses have already been delivered and that 450,000 additional doses will be delivered by the end of March.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta)
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