REGEN-COV antibody combo cuts COVID-19 hospitalisations and deaths

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-30 07:00

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A US trial of REGEN-COV, a combination of the COVID-19 antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab, in 2,696 COVID-19 patients found the antibody treatment cut the risk of death from 4.6 per cent among patients who were not given the antibodies to 1.3 per cent among those who were given a high dose of REGEN-COV. For a lower dose of REGEN-COV, which was also tested, deaths fell from 3.2 per cent among those not given the treatment to 1 per cent among those who were. The treatment also cut the time taken to recover from COVID-19, with the higher dose leading to a shorter recovery time than the lower dose, the scientists say. In addition, they found REGEN-COV reduced viral loads faster than in the placebo groups who were not given the treatment, and adverse events occurred more frequently in the placebo groups than the groups that received REGEN-COV.