Drug May Prevent COVID-19 Disease in Nursing Homes



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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Drugmaker Eli Lilly said Thursday that its antibody drug could prevent COVID-19 disease among residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

This is the first major study to show that such treatment can prevent disease in a group devastated by the pandemic.

Residents and staff who received the drug had an up to 57% lower risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to others in the same facility who received a placebo, the drug maker said. Among residents of nursing homes alone, the risk was reduced by up to 80%.

The study involved more than 1,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities such as assisted retirement homes. The vast majority were negative at the start of the study. Some received the drug, administered intravenously, and others received placebo infusions.

The research was conducted with the National Institutes of Health. The results were published in a press release and the company said it would publish more details in a newspaper soon.

Of the nearly 300 residents who did not have COVID-19, four later contracted the disease and died. Lilly said all of them were given the placebo.

In November, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the antibody drug Lilly as a treatment for people 12 years of age and older with mild or moderate cases of COVID-19 that do not require hospitalization. It is a unique treatment.

Lilly said she plans to work with regulators to see the extension of authorization for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities, where vaccinations are already underway.

Experts have said drugs like Lilly’s could serve as a bridge to help manage the virus until vaccines are widely available.

Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have been hit hard by the pandemic. In the United States, they represent less than 1% of the population, but almost 40% of deaths from COVID-19.

These long-term care facilities have been given priority to immunize residents and staff with recently authorized COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations began last month in parts of the country.

The two vaccines approved for emergency use by Pfizer and Moderna require two doses. The big drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens are giving shots at nursing homes in almost every state.

The companies said they plan to finish giving the first doses in nursing homes this month. Their nursing home vaccination programs are expected to largely end in February and March. Progress has been slower in other long-term places like assisted living, where residents need less medical attention than those in nursing homes.

There will always be a need for Lilly’s drug in places like nursing homes, even if vaccines are already distributed there, said WBB Securities chairman Steve Brozak, who tracks the pharmaceutical industry.

But Brozak asked how long the treatment might be effective with the emergence of new variants of the virus.

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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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