An antibody cocktail engineered by Regeneron made the news after several promising studies. One showed that the REGEN-COV treatment was highly effective against the most widespread strain of the COVID-19 virus. And another study by a Columbia University lab in conjunction with Regeneron scientists demonstrated that the antibody cocktail was effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants first identified in the UK (B.1.1.7) and South Africa (B.1.351).
Regeneron, based in Westchester, NY, said their treatment could be used as a “passive vaccine” to protect against the virus. REGEN-COV is still undergoing Phase 3 trials run jointly by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In a study of the antibody cocktail on the most common COVID strain, 400 participants who were living with a COVID-19 patient experienced infection rates that were 50-percent lower than a control group. And of those infected, none experienced symptoms, and all recovered. Those participants also exhibited small viral loads and a shorter period of viral shedding.
In the Columbia University study, troubling new variants of COVID that appear to spread more easily were tested against REGEN-COV. Researchers looked at in vitro neutralization potency of a number of COVID-19 antibodies. The REGEN-COV antibody cocktail continued to neutralize all variants tested.
