Monoclonal antibodies cocktail therapy

In news- Two private hospitals in Chennai recently launched ‘monoclonal antibodies cocktail’ therapy for Covid-19 patients.

About the therapy-

The antibody therapy is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies – Casirivimab and Imdevimab injection and was designed specifically to block the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.
When given to patients with mild symptoms in an early stage of Covid-19, it helps reduce the multiplication of the coronavirus.
Thus it avoids worsening of the disease and the need for hospitalisation.
The drug is administered either through the intravenous or subcutaneous (under the skin) route, through an infusion or injection.
It becomes active soon after entering the body.
Children above the age of 12 years, with mild symptoms can be given the drug.
The therapy was first used to treat former United States President Donald Trump in 2020.
Recent clinical studies have shown that antibody therapy or antibody-drug cocktail can reduce the chance of hospitalisation by 70 per cent in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
Monoclonal antibodies are artificially created in a laboratory by recombinant DNA technology and tailor-made to fight a particular disease.

Cipla and Switzerland-based Roche have launched this antibody cocktail in the market.
The therapy is most suited for “high-risk COVID-19 patients” who are within the first ten days of symptom onset and meet any of the listed criteria.
Other criteria include obesity with BMI (Body Mass Index) of more than 35; or type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus; or chronic kidney disease or liver disease; or currently receiving immunosuppressive treatment; or if aged above 55, have either heart disease or hypertension or chronic lung disease.
This therapy is meant for people who are under home isolation and do not need oxygen support, so the cut-off level of SpO2 is about 93 per cent.
It is not meant for people in ICU or on ventilators or needing any kind of oxygen support and those patients who have anaphylaxis which could entail severe allergic reaction.
The therapy has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration of the United States and has also been cleared by India’s top drug regulator the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
The Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has provided an Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for the antibody cocktail in India.
Zydus Cadila is the only Indian company to have developed a neutralizing monoclonal antibody-based cocktail ZRC-3308 and has sought DCGI approval for a clinical trial.