Myron Cohen, MD, is the lead investigator of a in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that shows bamlanivimab monotherapy reduced the incidence of infection in skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities with high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure.
The randomized phase 3 clinical trial included 966 residents and staff participants from US nursing and assisted living facilities with at least one confirmed SARS-CoV-2 case. Participants were enrolled during August – November 2020, and were negative at baseline for SARS-CoV-2 infection and serology. Among those treated with bamlanivimab versus placebo, the results showed the incidence of COVID-19 infection was 8.5% versus 15.2%, respectively. This was an 80% reduction in SAES-CoV-2 acquisition ascribed to passive immunity provide by bamlanivimab.
Cohen, the Yeargan-Bate Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and Epidemiology, pointed out differences in participants.
鈥淎ll participants who received bamlanivimab and acquired SARS-CoV-2 had lower baseline viral loads. They also cleared the virus more quickly than the placebo group.鈥�
Researchers emphasize the need for drugs that can provide prevention from COVID-19 faster than a vaccine in the most vulnerable populations. Reliable, safe, effective COVID-19 treatment for early infection is urgently needed.
Bamlanivimab is a neutralizing monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system鈥檚 ability to fight off harmful pathogens and viruses.
But SARS-CoV-2 has mutated quickly, resulting in genetic variation in the population of circulating viral strains (variants of concern) worldwide. Newer mAbs and mAb combinations more reliable in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 variants have replaced bamlanivimab, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdrew from emergency use authorization in April 2021.聽 The JAMA report is considered a critical proof of concept.
Learn more about the . Find also a treatments to prevent COVID-19, published by Cohen and other 黑料网 faculty in Clinical Infectious Diseases.