THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Monoclonal antibodies, a single shot drug cocktail given to former US president Donald Trump against Covid, is getting popular in the state as doctors and patients vouch for its effectiveness in preventing deaths. The drug contains artificial antibodies that mimic the ability of the immune system to fight off harmful pathogens like viruses.
At present, the drug is given as a single dose to Covid positive people in high-risk category and those with compromised immune system. The medical colleges and select tertiary care private hospitals have started giving the drug with promising results. The drug is given intravenously at outpatient units.
“The drug is found to be effective in reducing possibility of deaths due to Covid if given at an early stage of infection. High-risk patients with co-morbidities stand to benefit from the drug,” said the chairman of research cell, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr R C Sreekumar.It can be given to mild to moderate Covid patients above 12 years and weighing over 40 kg. As of now people with ailments such as cancer, diabetes or diseases affecting heart, liver, lungs, kidneys or those taking immunity compromising medications are considered for administering the drug.
“The drug is given at the viral replication phase in the body. It will block the virus from entering the host (human) cell. High-risk patients, especially dialysis patients, who do very badly in Covid will benefit from the cocktail drug. We have given the drug to over 40 patients. So far we found good results,” said infectious diseases specialist at KIMS HEALTH, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr Rajalakshmi A.
“Covid patients are informed of the cost and benefits. An OP appointment is scheduled to administer the drug. Those developing symptoms after drug is given will be observed for one or two days as inpatients,” she added. According to her, people in the age group of 40 to 91 have been given drug in the hospital. Casirivimab and imdevimab are monoclonal antibodies given as cocktail by the hospital which started the treatment with 25 patients two weeks ago.
According to Dr Sreekumar, the availability and cost are the prohibiting factors for wider use. A single shot of drug will cost between Rs 50,000 and Rs 55,000 in private hospital. However experts say it was effective in saving cost by preventing ventilator and ICU admission for high-risk patients. The drug is produced from human blood and by cloning the specific antibodies. It is considered to be a better treatment option than the convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) to treat Covid patients. The treatment using the latter suffered due to non-availability of donor pool, timing etc. “The antibodies developed in the drug have 1,000 times more concentration and target specific receptors when compared to the crude antibodies used in CPT,” said Dr Rajalakshmi.
If administered when symptoms are mild to moderate, monoclonal antibodies have shown promising results in the treatment of Covid by reducing hospitalisation time and risk of death among high-risk patients
THE WONDER ANTIBODY THERAPY
Monoclonal antibodies
Potential
Companies and drug combinations
Despite the high cost, the drug saves on ICU and ventilator charges. It is a combination of man-made proteins that act like human antibodies in the immune system. The cocktail drug is targeted against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid. If administered during the early stages of infection (3 to 7 days), it can block the virus’ attachment and entry into human cells