Lilly to only supply Covid antibody treatment as a combo therapy

Eli Lilly and Company has made changes to the purchase agreements with the US government for its neutralizing antibody therapies authorized for emergency use as a Covid-19 treatment. Specifically, as part of Lilly's planned transition to only supply bamlanivimab and etesevimab together, the company and the US government have decided to modify the existing purchase agreement of bamlanivimab alone, instead focusing on supplying bamlanivimab and etesevimab together as a combination.

Numbers from the Phase III trial featuring the duo demonstrated a reduced risk of hospitalizations and deaths by 87%.

Further, the deal has been modified to enable the supply of etesevimab to complement doses of bamlanivimab the U.S. government already purchased, with some already having been delivered to sites of care. This eliminates the purchase agreement for bamlanivimab alone and voids the remaining 350,856 doses that had been scheduled to be delivered by the end of March.

Lilly developed bamlanivimab and etesevimab for administration together, to help combat the challenge of SARS-CoV-2 variants likely to resist treatment with either monoclonal antibody used on its own, the pharma company says.