The US FDA approves Eli Lilly’s COVID-19 antibody drug

The Eli Lilly logo will be displayed at one of the company’s offices in San Diego, California, USA, on September 17, 2020. REUTERS / Mike Blake

February 11 (Reuters) – US Food and Drug Administration approves Eli Lilly and Co.’s (LLY.N) COVID-19 antibody drug for people 12 years and older with a risk of serious illness, adds a tool that has been shown to work against the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The FDA approved bebtelovimab for acute use in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for progression to serious illness, including hospitalization or death.

Bebtelovimab should be used when alternative COVID-19 treatment options approved or approved by the FDA are not available or clinically appropriate, the agency said.

In January, the US health authority had revised the emergency use licenses for Lilly’s antibody combination therapy and a rival treatment from Regeneron (REGN.O) after the drugs were found to be ineffective against the Omicron variant.

Lilly has said that bebtelovimab retains activity against Omicron as well as its BA. 2 subvariant, which is said to be more transferable.

The company on Thursday signed a supply agreement with the US government for up to 600,000 doses of bebtelovimab to be delivered before the end of March.

Bebtelovimab was originally discovered by AbCellera Biologics (ABCL.O) and later licensed and developed by Eli Lilly.

Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing Aditya Soni

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