"Lily" succeeds in reducing corona deaths by manufacturing antibodies to the virus

American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.

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A combination of two types of antibodies to Covid-19 from the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has shown its ability to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by 70% in high-risk patients who have recently tested positive for the virus, the company announced Tuesday.

The chief scientific officer of the company, Daniel Skovronsky, announced that "the combination of mlanivimab and eticifimab has the potential to be an important treatment that significantly reduces the number of hospitalizations and deaths in patients with Covid-19 who are at high risk."

The results mean that the third phase of the trials, which included 1035 people, achieved its main goal, and that the study also achieved its secondary goals of reducing the viral load, that is, the amount of virus present in the patient’s body, and the recovery period from the disease.

Patients were given a placebo or a combination of mlanifemam and acefimab at a rate of 2.8 g each.

There were 11 deaths or hospitalizations for patients who received treatment, representing 2.1 percent of the group.

In the placebo group, 36 deaths or hospitalizations were recorded, representing 7.0% of the group.

The treatment therefore represents a 70% reduction in risk, and the result has statistical significance, meaning that it is unlikely to be a coincidence.

In total, 10 deaths were recorded, all in the patients who received the placebo, and no patient died in the treatment group.

The company said it would continue to conduct studies of the drug in a second test to see if lowering doses would produce the same result.

Monogenic antibodies are laboratory versions of the body's natural defenses against infections.

Many scientists have praised its ability to fight Covid, and both Lilly and the biotechnology company Regeneron have obtained an emergency use license for their treatments.

However, its use has been limited in the United States, in part due to lack of patient interest, understaffing and logistical capacity for hospitals to provide treatment.

In her press release, Lilly acknowledged some of these difficulties.

"From the front-line nurses and physicians who administered these doses, Lilly received comments about the complications and the time requirements for preparing and injecting them," she said in the statement.

As a result, the company is cooperating with the Food and Drug Administration regarding the possibility of reducing the drug injection time from the current 60 minutes to 16 minutes.

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