Monoclonal antibody cocktail therapy beneficial in high-risk patients: Experts

Currently, the patients with mild and moderate infection, who are at high risk of witnessing a severity in the infection, are being given the Roche India’s antibody cocktail, including Casirivimab and Imdevimab. 

Senior consultant oncologist at Kauvery Hospital, Dr Anitha Ramesh, said the antibodies for the therapy are lab-engineered to strengthen the immune system and fight the virus. It will help reduce virus replication at an early stage and reduce mortality, mainly in high-risk patients. 

High-risk patients include those with obesity, diabetics, kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, on immunosuppressants, or chronic respiratory disease. 

Dr RK Venkatasalam, Director Medical Services at Apollo Hospitals said that monoclonal antibodies bind to and neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The antibody cocktail can be administered for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients who are at high risk of developing severe symptoms. 

Doctors say that the antibody cocktail must ideally be administered within 48-72 hours of a patient testing positive and before five to seven days. Patients getting the antibody cocktail therapy should be PCR positive, have comorbidities, should not be on oxygen therapy and should offer consent for the treatment. This treatment has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and fatality by around 70 per cent. 

The drug received emergency use approval from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation based on the data filed with the US regulators as well as the scientific opinion of the European regulatory panel. 

However, the State health department has not yet included the therapy treatment as part of the protocol at government hospitals.