CHENNAI: The Health Department has treated Covid-19 patients at government medical college hospitals with monoclonal antibodies, according to senior officials. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system.
The monoclonal antibody cocktail — Casirivimab and Imdevimab — was provided an Emergency Use Authorisation by the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) in May 2021. These antibodies are specifically directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to block the virus attachment and entry into the cells. No adverse effect was found on patients upon using the antibodies as per Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital report. This was the first time this treatment was made available at government hospitals.
The drugs were supplied by the Union Ministry for free during the second wave. “The drug’s expiry date was September end. So, we thought of using them before that and supplied them to the hospitals,” said Deepak Jacob, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation. The TNMSC supplied the drug to the government hospitals through Directorate of Medical Education (DME). At KMCH, the drug was used on 36 patients with mild disease having symptoms of fever, and cough with mild or no pneumonia, said Dr R Shanthimalar, Dean of KMCH.
Quoting the medical experts’ opinion at the hospital, Shanthimalar said, “No complication or death reported among those who received these antibodies.” As per the KMCH doctors’ report, the drugs might be limited to those with immuno-compromised states, with multiple comorbidities, and with poor antibody response. The drugs may not be useful to those vaccinated and with good immune responses. At the RGGGH, the cocktail was administered to 150 patients, the officials said.