People at considerable risk of developing severe Covid-19, including millions of Americans with compromised immune systems, now have the option of receiving a preventive monoclonal antibody treatment if they have been or are at risk of being exposed to the coronavirus, NBC News reports.
Myron Cohen, MD, the Yeargan-Bate Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and Epidemiology, and one of the investigators behind the study of REGEN-COV as prevention, said that monoclonal antibodies protect against severe illness by overwhelming the coronavirus infection while it is still mostly in the nose and throat.
“It’s a race between your ability to make an antibody to protect your lungs and the rest of your body and the virus,” he said in the article. “And if you’re likely to lose the race, you’re the person for whom these antibody drugs are appropriate.”