Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly said Monday it began the world’s first human trial of an antibody treatment for the novel coronavirus that shows tremendous promise, according to researchers.
The experimental drug is derived from a blood sample taken from one of the first American patients who recovered from COVID-19. Lilly said its early-stage study is designed to determine the treatment’s effectiveness on patients already hospitalized with COVID-19.
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told FOX Business Monday the initial study will have about 40 patients. Results are expected by the end of June.
The U.S. has the highest number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, totaling more than 1.79 million. At the peak of the pandemic, the U.S. had roughly 60,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at one time.
WIBC’s Tony Katz offered insight into how the experimental drug works Thursday morning.
“The drug works by blocking and preventing the virus from attaching to and entering human cells.
“The way Coronavirus works is that it is a spiked protein that attaches to other cells, so these treatments are designed to prevent that from occurring.”
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