As the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, the next big advance in battling the pandemic could come from a class of biotech therapies widely used against cancer and other disorders - antibodies designed specifically to attack this new virus.
FILE PHOTO: A Lab technician works at Sorrento Therapeutics where efforts are underway to develop an antibody, STI-1499, to help in prevention of the coronavirus disease in San Diego, California, U.S., May 22, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
“Antibodies can block infectivity. That is a fact,” Regeneron Pharmaceuticals executive Christos Kyratsous told Reuters. Eli Lilly and Co <LLY.N, AstraZeneca, Amgen, and GlaxoSmithKline were cleared by the U.S. government to pool manufacturing resources in order to scale up supplies if any of these drugs prove successful.
Still, drugmakers say monoclonal antibodies could temporarily prevent infection in at-risk people such as medical workers and the elderly. They could also be used as a therapeutic bridge until vaccines become widely available. Safety risks for monoclonal antibodies are considered low, but their cost can be quite high. These type of drugs for cancer can cost over $100,000 a year.
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