covid-19, Coronavirus | Supermedicine can be a cure for corona

Beyond a vaccine, an effective medicine against the coronavirus is the main hope for being able to return to a normal everyday life.

And there is one type of medicine that has more hope than anything else: monoclonal antibodies.

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Antibodies are the body’s primary defense against diseases you have already been exposed to. The antibodies prevent the virus from multiplying after it has entered the body.

Monoclonal antibodies are the most effective antibodies found against a virus, which is grown in large quantities. These antibodies can then be given to humans, either to prevent being infected by the virus – or to help the body fight an infection.

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Many companies work with such a medicine

There are a number of companies working on such a medicine against corona.

AstraZeneca, which is currently best known for its work on the so-called Oxford vaccine, is in the first phase of testing such a drug.

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The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly recently published results from its Phase 2 study of the medicine with the resounding name LY-COV555. This medicine consists of only one type of antibody.

The results so far show that people with a mild and moderate course of the disease recover faster, and that fewer people need to be hospitalized. But for people who have already become seriously ill, the effect is absent. This has, among other things, led to that and study which looks specifically at hospital patients is closed.

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And then there is the American company Regeneron, which is at the forefront of the race with its phase 3 study of its “cocktail” of two types of antibodies that have been named REGN-COV2. The drug has shown very promising results, and to the surprise of many, the experimental drug was given to Donald Trump when he became infected.

The president himself believes that this was the medicine that made all the difference in the world for him. The 74-year-old was discharged from the hospital shortly after.

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The medicine seems to work on sicker patients than the competitor’s version, but the company received before last weekend a recommendation from an independent committee to stop testing on the very sickest patients with severe breathing problems. Exactly why this recommendation came is not clear. The committee, however, believed they could continue the study on other patients.

Very challenging to produce

If the medicine were to be approved, it would have a significant handicap: production is both difficult and time-consuming. There is also not much spare production capacity that can only be used.

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Regeneron has entered into an agreement with the pharmaceutical giant Roche, which is equivalent to 650,000-2,000,000 doses a year, depending on how ill patients it is to be used on. The use of two different types of antibodies complicates production. They have said they hope to have 50,000 doses ready by New Year.

Given that around 250,000 cases of infection are currently confirmed every day in Europe, and around 90,000 a day in the United States, it will obviously not be a medicine for everyone.

Also read: The government asks us to follow stricter infection control measures: – There is confusion among the Norwegian people about what the measures really mean

Regeneron medicine is unlikely to arrive in Norway

There are also many indications that Regeneron medicine will be reserved for the United States. Donald Trump has promised that the medicine will be free for Americans.

The Norwegian Directorate of Health informs Nettavisen that they are not aware that neither Norway nor the EU has purchasing agreements for Regeneron products.

Last week, Eli Lilly also stated that their first priority was to help reduce the disease burden in the United States.

Thus, vaccine is probably Norway’s only hope in the short term.

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