The drug is a synthetic copy of proteins that fight infections

The European drug regulator said the combination of antibodies from US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly could be used to treat COVID-19 patients who do not need oxygen support but are at high risk of developing a serious illness.

Reported by Reuters.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said that this recommendation can now be used as a guide in individual European countries on the possible use of a combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab, before wider approval is given.

The drugs in the IV cocktail belong to a class of drugs known as monoclonal antibodies, which are synthetic copies of infection-fighting proteins naturally produced by the human body.

The EMA said that while the results showed that the combination reduced the amount of virus present in the back of the nose and throat, there remained some uncertainty about the benefits of using bamlanivimab alone. However, the regulator did not rule out the possibility of monotherapy.

“From a safety standpoint, most side effects were mild to moderate; however, infusion-related reactions (including allergic reactions) are likely and should be controlled,” the EMA said.

The results also showed that the combination and monotherapy resulted in fewer doctor visits for coronavirus.

The combination was approved for emergency use in the United States in February after a recent trial showed that the combined treatments helped reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients by 70%.

Recall that in Slovakia, patients with COVID-19 are treated with a drug for lice. As it turned out, the drug ivermectin has shown its effectiveness in the fight against the new coronavirus.

It was also reported that former US President Donald Trump assured that he felt great after taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis against coronavirus.