Monoclonal antibody therapy 100 pc prevents Covid severity and deaths

The monoclonal antibody therapy study, which gained prominence when former President of United States, Donald Trump was administered with the cocktail of drugs.

Hyderabad: A first of its kind collaborative study by top research institutions in Hyderabad on the efficacy of monoclonal antibody therapy on high risk Covid positive patients has indicated that the combination of drugs can prevent the disease severity and deaths due to the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2.  

The monoclonal antibody therapy study, which gained prominence when former President of United States, Donald Trump was administered with the cocktail of drugs, was led by Hyderabad-based Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, and conducted on 285 high risk Covid positive patients in Hyderabad. 

The study results, which were published in the prestigious peer-reviewed Journal of Internal Medicine on Monday, indicated that 78 per cent of the patients who were on the monoclonal antibody therapy have improved clinical symptoms and 75 per cent tested Rt-PCR negative within seven days, when compared to patients who were on Remdesivir and took at least 14 days to test negative in the RT-PCR test.  

“There are many unique aspects of this collaborative study. This is the first published research in the world that has clearly indicated the effectiveness of REGEN-COV monoclonal antibody therapy on the Delta variant, which was unknown even today.  Patients who received this therapy recovered quickly, they did not progress into severe cases, there were no deaths and most importantly such patients did not have post-Covid syndrome or complications,” founder and chairman, AIG Hospitals, Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, said while presenting the study results.

While AIG Hospitals conceptualised, designed, provide patient cohort and funded the study, the city-based CCMB were involved in sequencing the genome of samples collected from the patients. As part of the study, the researchers from Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences tested the neutralising activity of the cocktail of drugs against the Delta variant in their laboratory.

Overall, the study included 285 high risk Covid positive patients out of which one group comprising of 208 patients were administered with the monoclonal antibodies (REGEN-COV) while the remaining 78 patients were put on standard-of-care treatment that consisted of Remdesivir.

“Our aim in the study was to assess the amount of time taken for resolution of symptoms and change in the viral load.  About 75 per cent of the patients who received monoclonal antibodies tested negative in 7 days while 52 per cent of patients who were in another group remained positive after one week. Among patients who were on monoclonal antibody therapy, the viral load decreased in 7 days and none of them progressed to severe disease,” the study said.

All the patients who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were part of the study underwent genome sequencing at CCMB and 98 per cent of them were sick due to the Delta variant.  

The researchers however made it clear that monoclonal antibody therapy is not meant for all Covid patients and should ideally be administered to individuals who fall under the high risk category.  Such patients should be put on the therapy at the initial stages i.e. between 3 to 7 days after getting RT-PCR positive or from the day of onset of symptoms, whichever is earlier.

“Monoclonal antibodies therapy will work wonders for patients with heart ailments, diabetes, blood pressure and other comorbidities. If administered early, the therapy has the potential to save the lives of such patients, whose medical condition will become severe if not treated at the right time,” Dr Nageshwar Reddy said.

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