KOZHIKODE: The experimental monoclonal antibody (MAB) cocktail, considered a life-saving treatment for some severely-affected COVID patients, has been widely used in the state, especially in patients aged above 60.
So far, 8,000 MAB cocktails, each comprising two doses and costing around Rs 1 lakh, have been administered to patients aged above 60 in the state ever since its use was approved in India. Medical experts say more and more middle-aged COVID patients are approaching hospitals now for getting the MAB dose after its impact was widely spoken about around the world.
Confirming this, doctors of various private hospitals said there are strict criteria to select patients for MAB therapy – It is only for patients who don’t have an alternative cure, especially those aged above 60. MABs are artificial antibodies that mimic the activities of the immune system. They are produced by extracting and cloning specific antibodies from the human blood.
Certain national and international research reports have shown that MABs can help reduce the need for hospitalisation. However, the reports also revealed that MAB doses are not approved for people who are hospitalised with severe COVID infection and those requiring oxygen.
"Casirivimab and Imdevimab are used for the highly potent antibody cocktail targeting SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-causing virus. We have administered over 300 MABs in our hospital so far. We recommend MABs, which cost around Rs 56,000 per dose, after a detailed check-up of the COVID patient," said Dr Anoop Kumar AS, senior consultant and chief critical care medicine of Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozhikode and a member of the government's expert advisory panel on COVID management.
"We don't recommend it for COVID patients who are hospitalised, require oxygen therapy or need an increase in baseline oxygen flow rate. It is also not recommended for patients undergoing chronic oxygen therapy due to underlying non-COVID-related comorbidity," he said.
Casirivimab and Imdevimab should be given together as soon as possible after testing positive for Covid and within 10 days of the onset of symptoms, said Dr Anoop. The studies so far have shown that the investigational antibody cocktail Casirivimab and Imdevimab reduced hospitalisation or death by 70 per cent in non-hospitalised Covid patients and shortened the duration of symptoms by four days.
"A basic study done in our hospital since we started administering MAB doses showed that in hospitalised patients with severe COVID, who have not mounted a natural antibody response by themselves, MAB cocktail reduced the risk of death by a fifth compared to those who received standard care," said Dr PN Nafees, who has been heading the COVID department of a private hospital in Kochi since the start of the pandemic in 2020.