New Mayo Clinic research shows combination antibody treatments help in reducing or even evading hospitalization for patients with mild to moderate covid-19 infections. Read to know how they work.
What is the combination antibody treatment?
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic conducted an observational study on 1,400 patients. Out of them, 696 patients received a drug combo treatment. The study showed that a combination of imdevimab and casirivimab, two antibody treatments aided in keeping high-risk covid patients out of hospitals. Additionally, this new advancement is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization.
Here’s what the research shows
On the 14th day of the study, merely 1.3 percent of the treated group needed hospitalization. It is a stark contrast against the 3.3 percent of untreated patients who underwent hospitalization. And, by the 21st day, the percentages for people hospitalized from the treated and non-treated group was 1.3 and 4.2. Moreover, on the 28th day, it came up to 1.6 percent and 4.8 percent respectively. Hence, data shows an about 60 to 70 percent reduction in hospitalization. And this is among patients who underwent the combination antibody treatment.
New treatment is promising for patients under high risk for COVID-19
“Our conclusion overall at this point is those monoclonal antibodies. They are an important option in treatment to reduce the impact of Covid-19 in high-risk patients,” said Dr. Raymund Razonable, the author of the study. Dr. Razonable is an infectious disease specialist. “It’s an antibody that binds to the virus and the binding of this antibody to the virus. This will prevent subsequent infection of human cells. We think this is the reason why patients get better quicker. Hence, they don’t progress to severe illness that requires hospitalization,” he added.
“If the COVID-19 progresses to a point where it is considered severe, that requires you to visit the emergency department or even get hospitalized, then this monoclonal antibody will no longer work. So for it to be most effective, we have to get the treatment to patients as early as possible,” said Dr. Razonable. He added that patients get a chance to recover without undergoing hospitalization when they contract mind to moderate cases of covid. Additionally, he emphasized that the monoclonal antibody treatment was applicable to treat patients with high risk due to comorbidities.
