Lilly COVID Antibody Trial Ends
(WISH-TV Photo)
A clinical trial involving an antibody treatment developed by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) has ended. The trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was closed following a recommendation from the independent Drug and Safety Monitoring Board, which said the treatment had a “low likelihood that the intervention would be of clinical value in this hospitalized patient population.”
The ACTIV-3 clinical trial had been paused earlier this month, though a specific reason for the pause was not given.
The study was evaluating the efficacy of the treatment, known as LY-CoV555, in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The NIAID, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, says the treatment showed a “lack of clinical benefit” in a hospitalized population.
Enrollment in the study ended with 326 total participants, who will continue to be followed until 90 days have passed since the study began.
Meanwhile, the antibody treatment, also known as bamlanivimab, continues to be studied in several other trials, which will are continuing on. Among them is an ACTIV-2 study also sponsored by the NIH, to which the NIAID said the safety board did not recommend any changes.
Lilly says the treatment is also being studied in BLAZE-1, a Phase 2 trial for people recently diagnosed with COVID-19 in the non-hospitalized setting, as well as BLAZE-2, a Phase 3 trial for the prevention of COVID-19 in residents and staff at long-term care facilities.
“While there was insufficient evidence that bamlanivimab improved clinical outcomes when added to other treatments in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, we remain confident based on data from Lilly’s BLAZE-1 study that bamlanivimab monotherapy may prevent progression of disease for those earlier in the course of COVID-19,” Lilly said in a statement late Monday.
The antibody treatment was discovered by Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologics and is being developed and manufactured by Lilly in partnership with AbCellera.