U.S. Purchases Additional COVID Treatment from Lilly
A Lilly researcher inside a company lab. (photo courtesy: Eli Lilly & Co.)
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) says the federal government has purchased 388,000 additional doses of its antibody therapy etesevimab, which is used in conjunction with bamlanivimab as a treatment for COVID-19. The company says the purchase will generate approximately $330 million in revenue. U.S. government previously purchased bamlanivimab. Lilly says it expects to ship 200,000 doses in the third quarter and the balance in Q4.
“The recent increase in COVID-19 cases has caused a substantial rise in the utilization of monoclonal antibody drugs, particularly in areas of the country with low vaccination rates,” said Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly’s chief scientific and medical officer, and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. “Lilly developed bamlanivimab and etesevimab for administration together, in anticipation of variants such as the highly contagious Delta variant, which currently accounts for more than 98 percent of all identified COVID-19 cases in the U.S.”
In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization to Lilly for the combination therapy. The company paused delivery on the treatment in June as researchers determined the efficacy against the Delta variant of COVID-19. Lilly received clearance earlier this month after studies demonstrated success in neutralizing the Delta variant.