US human trials begin for first antibody cocktail that might treat and prevent Covid-19

A medicine that may treat and prevent Covid-19 is now being tested in patients in multiple sites around the United States, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said.

It is the first trial of a Covid-19 antibody cocktail in the United States. If successful, Regeneron hopes it could be available by the fall, reports the CNN.

The clinical trial started Wednesday. Regeneron said its antibody cocktail would be tested in four separate study populations: people who are hospitalized with Covid-19; people who have symptoms for the disease, but are not hospitalized; people who are healthy but are at a high risk for getting sick; and healthy people who have come into close contact with a person who is sick.

"We have created a unique anti-viral antibody cocktail with the potential both to prevent and treat infection, and also to preempt viral 'escape,' a critical precaution in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic," Dr George Yancopoulos, co-founder, president and chief scientific officer at Regeneron, said in a press release.

"Ultimately, the world needs multiple solutions, and the innovative biopharma industry is collectively working hard to help as many people as possible with a variety of complementary approaches."

Antibodies are proteins the body naturally makes to protect the body from a threat like Covid-19.

To make what are called monoclonal antibodies for an antibody cocktail, scientists comb through thousands of antibodies to figure out which ones fight the novel coronavirus most effectively.

In this case, Regeneron's scientists picked two antibodies, scaled them up and put them into a medicine that it hopes can be used to treat symptoms and as protection for vulnerable communities such as the elderly or health care workers.

The first part of the trial will check to see if the antibody therapy is safe to be used in humans. Scientists will also want to see if it works.