COVID Cocktail Drug

News Desk

An antibody cocktail is a mixture of two or more unique biological drugs that act like human antibodies in the immune system and help fight off infection. US President Donald Trump was back at the White House after a dramatic nine days in which he tested positive for coronavirus, was flown to hospital, was given experimental drugs and made an impromptu drive-by to meet supporters while still sick.

About the drug:

• This drug is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies:
• Casirivimab
• Imdevimab
• It is designed to prevent infected people from developing severe illness.
• The drug imitates the body’s natural defenses, instead of waiting for the body to develop its own protective immune response.
• It is based on monoclonal antibody.

Monoclonal Antibodies are identical copies of an antibody that targets one specific antigen. Scientists can make monoclonal antibodies by exposing white blood cells to a particular antigen. Each monoclonal antibody is specific to its matching antigen. For COVID-19, there are several authorized monoclonal antibody therapies. Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche Holding AG and Cipla Ltd began selling a COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail to treat non-hospitalized patients who face high risks of their infections turning severe. The drug, which has been developed by New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., comprises of two antibodies Casirivimab and Imdevimab.

The Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO), had recently provided an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Antibody Cocktail (Casirivimab and Imdevimab) in India. It has also received a EUA in the US and several EU countries. The antibody cocktail is to be administered for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age or older, weighing at least 40 kg) who are confirmed to be infected with SARS-COV2 and who are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease and do not require oxygen.

Mixing doses of two leading COVID-19 vaccines increased patients’ side effects such as fatigue and headaches in early findings from a study that has yet to show how well such a cocktail defends against the virus. People who got a first dose of AstraZeneca Plc’s shot followed by Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine four weeks later reported more short-lived side effects, most of them mild, researchers from the University of Oxford reported in The Lancet medical journal. That was also true when the order of the shots was switched.