Regeneron’s REGN-COV2 is First Antibody Cocktail for COVID-19 to Receive FDA Nod for Emergency Use

New York: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has announced that the antibody cocktail casirivimab and imdevimab administered together (also known as REGN-COV2 or REGEN-COV2), a therapy currently being investigated for use in COVID-19, has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Casirivimab and imdevimab administered together are authorized for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults, as well as in pediatric patients at least 12 years of age and weighing at least 40 kg, who have received positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing and are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.

The clinical evidence from Regeneron’s outpatient trial suggests that monoclonal antibodies such as REGEN-COV2 have the greatest benefit when given early after diagnosis and in patients who have not yet mounted their own immune response or who have high viral load.

The criteria for ‘high-risk’ patients are described in the Fact Sheet for Health Care Providers. Casirivimab and imdevimab are not authorized for use in patients who are hospitalized or require oxygen therapy due to COVID-19, or for people currently using chronic oxygen therapy because of an underlying comorbidity who require an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate due to COVID-19.

REGEN-COV2 continues to be evaluated in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19 in certain hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, the Phase 3 open-label RECOVERY trial of hospitalized patients in the UK, and a Phase 3 trial for the prevention of COVID-19 in household contacts of infected individuals.

To date, more than 7,000 people have participated in REGEN-COV2 clinical trials.