Lilly's Neutralizing Antibody Bamlanivimab Demonstrates 80% Efficacy in Preventing Symptomatic COVID-19 Among Elderly Nursing Home Residents

Today, Eli Lilly and Company announced that bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555), a neutralizing antibody against the novel coronavirus jointly developed with AbCellera, significantly reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 among residents and staff of nursing homes in the Phase 3 BLAZE-2 clinical trial. Notably, for elderly individuals residing in nursing homes, this antibody reduced their risk of infection by 80%.

Bamlanivimab is a neutralizing antibody targeting the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which has been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in high-risk patients. Although several COVID-19 vaccines have currently received EUA, it still takes several weeks after vaccination to develop protective efficacy. Moreover, for some elderly individuals or patients with compromised immune systems, their immune systems may not mount an adequate response to the vaccine.

The advantage of neutralizing antibodies as a prophylactic therapy lies in their immediate onset of action after administration, and they are equally effective in elderly individuals and immunocompromised patients.

In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial, 965 participants (299 nursing home residents and 666 staff members) who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 at baseline were included in the analysis of neutralizing antibody efficacy for prevention. All participants were randomly assigned to receive either 4,200 mg of bamlanivimab or placebo.

After all participants completed the 8-week follow-up, the incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 in the bamlanivimab treatment group was significantly lower than that in the placebo group (odds ratio = 0.43, p = 0.00021).

In the prespecified subgroup of nursing home residents, the frequency of symptomatic COVID-19 cases was also significantly lower in patients treated with bamlanivimab compared with placebo (odds ratio 0.20; p=0.00026). These results indicate that residents randomized to receive bamlanivimab had up to an 80% reduction in the risk of contracting COVID-19 compared with those randomized to receive placebo among residents in the same facilities. Among the 299 residents in the prevention cohort, there were four deaths caused by COVID-19, all of which occurred in the placebo group; there were no COVID-19-related deaths in the bamlanivimab group.

Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Chief Scientific Officer of Eli Lilly and President of Lilly Research Laboratories, stated, “We are very pleased with these positive results, which demonstrate that bamlanivimab can help prevent COVID-19 and significantly reduce the risk of illness among nursing home residents, who are among the most vulnerable members of society. We look forward to working with regulatory authorities to expand the scope of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these facilities.”

Note: This article is intended to introduce medical and health research and does not constitute a recommendation for treatment plans. For guidance on treatment options, please consult a licensed healthcare provider at a reputable hospital.

References:

[1] Lilly's neutralizing antibody bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) prevented COVID-19 at nursing homes in the BLAZE-2 trial, reducing risk by up to 80 percent for residents. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lillys-neutralizing-antibody-bamlanivimab-ly-cov555-prevented

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