Lilly has already launched human trials with two of the
experimental therapies.
Eli
Lilly and Co could have a drug specifically designed to treat COVID-19
authorized for use as early as September if all goes well with either of two
antibody therapies it is testing, its chief scientist told Reuters on
Wednesday.
Lilly is also doing preclinical studies of a third antibody treatment for the illness caused by the new coronavirus that could enter human clinical trials in the coming weeks, Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky said in an interview.
Lilly has already
launched human trials with two of the experimental therapies.
The drugs belong
to a class of biotech medicines called monoclonal antibodies widely used to
treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and many other conditions. A monoclonal
antibody drug developed against COVID-19
is likely to be more effective than repurposed medicines currently being tested
against the virus.
Skovronsky said
the therapies - which may also be used to prevent the disease - could beat a
vaccine to widespread use as a COVID-19 treatment, if they prove effective.
"For the
treatment indication, particularly, this could go pretty fast," he said in
an interview. "If in August or September we're seeing the people who got
treated are not progressing to hospitalization, that would be powerful data and
could lead to emergency use authorization."
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