Eli Lilly Begins Testing Covid-19 Drug Derived From Blood of Survivor
June 01 2020 - 5:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Peter Loftus
Eli Lilly & Co. said Monday it began the first study of an
experimental drug derived from a blood sample of an early U.S.
survivor of Covid-19, a new effort to take advantage of the
molecular defenses developed by recovered patients.
The Indianapolis company said the testing aims to assess the
drug's potential to treat patients hospitalized with the
coronavirus.
The drugmaker also plans eventually to test whether the
antibody-based drug could prevent disease in people at risk of
infection, an approach that could serve as a bridge toward curbing
the pandemic until a successful vaccine is developed.
Lilly's experimental drug is part of a broader push to harness
the power of proteins known as antibodies that are found in the
plasma of people who have recovered from coronavirus infection.
Antibodies are agents of the immune system that counteract
pathogens including viruses.
Researchers are also studying the use of plasma from recovered
patients as a treatment for infections and a plasma-based therapy
that has been used previously for other diseases.
In Lilly's case, the experimental therapy -- code-named
LY-CoV555 -- doesn't contain the plasma of recovered patients.
Instead, the drug's design was triggered by antibodies in the
plasma.
Researchers at AbCellera Biologics Inc., a Canadian company that
partnered with Lilly in March, and the U.S. National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases identified an antibody with
virus-fighting potential in a blood sample taken from one of the
first U.S. patients who recovered from Covid-19.
Lilly's scientists then essentially cloned the antibody to make
the new therapy. Its goal is to block the virus from attaching to
and entering human cells, thus neutralizing it.
"We're not experienced in vaccines, or antiviral small
molecules," Lilly Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky said
in an interview. "But we're really good at antibodies, engineering
them, testing them, manufacturing them. That's a capability we
have, so the opportunity to work on antibodies against Covid-19
made total sense."
The drug is taken intravenously.
The first study will primarily track safety and side effects,
but will also test whether the treatment can reduce the length of
hospital stays and curb the number of patients admitted to
intensive care and in need of ventilators. Researchers expect to
enroll up to 32 patients in the study.
One of the sites for the first study is at NYU Grossman School
of Medicine in New York.
"What we're doing here is taking patients with Covid, offering
the opportunity to participate in a new treatment, hopefully to
help them recover more quickly and uneventfully from their
infection," said Dr. Mark J. Mulligan, director of the
infectious-disease and vaccine-research units at NYU Langone
Health.
Dr. Mulligan said Gilead Sciences Inc.'s remdesivir has been
shown to have some benefit in Covid-19 patients, but it is a
moderate effect. Remdesivir was authorized for emergency use last
month. "We'd like to have stronger therapies," he said.
If the first study is successful, Lilly said it plans to test
the antibody in a second study that includes treating patients who
aren't in a hospital.
Other studies would examine whether the drug can prevent people
from getting sick, focusing on vulnerable patient populations who
aren't optimal candidates for vaccines
Lilly and AbCellera also have developed other antibodies that
Lilly plans to test in coming months in Covid-19 patients, either
alone or in combination with each other.
Lilly said it is starting large-scale manufacturing of the
therapy, so that if studies prove successful, it will have several
hundred thousand doses available by the end of the year.
Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2020 06:44 ET (10:44 GMT)
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