COVID Regeneron Treatment

Over the last two years, healthcare has been a battlefield. As people are desperate for neutrality, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals may have forged a middle ground for COVID-19 treatment and prevention. 

When it comes to COVID-19, much of the fear surrounding the virus stems from the unknown. How bad will it get? What if I am hospitalized, or worse? If I’m asymptomatic, will I pass it on to someone  — perhaps a loved one — and put their life in danger? These are the questions we’ve been treading water with for the last two years. But, what if there was something that could eliminate some of those unknown factors? That’s where Regeneron Pharmaceuticals comes in.

With the release of their “antibody cocktail” known as REGEN-COV, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has perhaps finally created a middle ground in the midst of a national vaccine war. The numbers are galvanizing: in a late-stage trial, a single dose of Regeneron’s double monoclonal antibody drug has shown to reduce the risk of COVID-19-negative patients contracting the virus by 81.6% after being exposed to positive-testing patients. 

Of the group exposed to COVID-19-positive who also tested positive at the start of the trial, REGEN-COV reduced the overall risk of progressing to symptomatic COVID-19 by 31%, and by 76% after the third day. The trial also showed that REGEN-COV reduced symptom duration and markedly decreased viral load levels. As an intervention method, the drug has been successful at reducing hospitalizations in positive-testing patients, too.

At Phoebe North and Phoebe Sumter in Albany, Georgia, the drug shows promise. “The therapy is approved for high-risk patients soon after their diagnosis. The goal is to help those patients avoid emergency room visits and hospital stays, and that is exactly what we are achieving with our use of the treatment at Phoebe,” said Dianna Grant, MD, Phoebe Putney Health System Chief Medical Officer. 

The real brilliance of the drug is not its effectiveness as a quick fix, but for it having the ability to continue to prevent infection for a two-to-eight-month period following only a single dose. For immunocompromised patients, or folks who have not received any doses of a vaccine, this is groundbreaking. 

Dr. Grant explained, “This therapy would play an important role in our response to another surge in cases, and we strongly encourage physicians throughout Southwest Georgia to refer newly-diagnosed COVID-19 patients who are appropriate for the therapy. It truly is a lifesaver.” 

“The goal is to help those patients avoid emergency room visits and hospital stays, and that is exactly what we are achieving,” said Dianna Grant, M.D., Phoebe Putney Health System Chief Medical Officer

As people spend more time indoors as temperatures drop, and potentially gather for the holidays, medical professionals are anticipating another large surge in COVID-19 cases. REGEN-COV shows promise as an alternative to getting vaccinated, and could be a possible solution to fill in the gaps in the effort to gain herd immunity against the virus.

Where can you find the COVID-19 antibody treatment?

Due to supply shortages and extraordinary demand for the treatment, the federal government has changed the way COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatments will be distributed in Georgia, and all states. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will now determine states’ allocation of the treatment, rather than health providers being able to order directly. The Georgia Department of Health (DPH) will then determine how the treatments are distributed throughout the state. With new challenges surrounding the availability of the treatment, how and where can Georgians find a provider near them, should they need it? Visit protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/therapeutics-distribution for the most up-to-date information about treatment availability, and a list of known providers near you.

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