Lilly Modifies COVID-19 Purchase Agreement
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) has announced changes to the purchase agreements with the U.S. government for its antibody therapies authorized for emergency use as a treatment for COVID-19. As part of the company’s planned transition to only supply bamlanivimab and etesevimab together, Lilly and the government have agreed to modify the purchase agreement of bamlanivimab alone and focus on supply of the two therapies together.
Additionally, Lilly says the agreement is being modified so the company can provide additional doses of etesevimab to match the doses of bamlanivimab the U.S. government have already been delivered.
Lilly says the change terminates the original purchase agreement for bamlanivimab alone and cancels more than 350,000 remaining doses that were scheduled to be delivered by the end of March.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an Emergency Use Authorization for the two COVID-19 antibody therapies in February. In the same month, the U.S. government purchased a minimum of 100,000 doses of a combination antibody therapy. The government had previously purchased nearly 1 million doses of bamlanivimab alone.
Lilly’s bamlanivimab was the first neutralizing monoclonal antibody to receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Lilly says it subsequently developed bamlanivimab and etesevimab for administration together, in order to meet the potential challenge of SARS-CoV-2 variants likely to resist treatment with either therapy alone.