, such as health workers and housemates of someone with COVID-19. If they proved effective and if a vaccine doesn’t materialize or protect as hoped, the drugs might eventually be considered for wider use, perhaps for teachers or other groups.
The antibody drugs are “very promising” and, in contrast, could be available “fairly soon,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration official who is leading government efforts to speed COVID-19 therapies. Key studies are under way and some answers should come by early fall.One company, Eli Lilly, has already started manufacturing its antibody drug, betting that studies now under way will give positive results.
“The success with our Ebola program gives us some confidence that we can potentially do this again,” said Christos Kyratsous, a Regeneron microbiologist who helped lead that work. “I’m cautiously optimistic” about the drugs, said the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. “I’m heartened by the experience that we had with Ebola,” where the drugs proved effective.– The antibodies may not reach all of the places in the body where they need to act, such as deep in the lungs. All the antibody drugs are given through an IV and must make their way through the bloodstream to wherever they’re needed.