• Coronavirus, the Swedish epidemiologist: "We could have done better"

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June 03, 2020 The first study in the world on a potential antibody treatment for Covid-19 in humans begins. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly made this known. The first patients received, in a phase 1 study, the main antibody LY-CoV555 born from the collaboration of Lilly with AbCellera. The placebo-controlled study will assess safety and tolerability in hospitalized patients with Covid-19. Results are expected by the end of June.

If the Phase 1 results show that the antibody can be safely administered, Lilly will initiate a Phase 2 study to evaluate efficacy in vulnerable populations. Lilly's scientists developed the antibody in just three months after it was identified by AbCellera and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center on a blood sample from one of the first US patients recovered from Covid-19. LY-CoV555 is the first potential new drug specifically designed to combat SarsCov2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The first patients in the study were treated in major US medical centers.