Regeneron expects no sales of its Covid-19 antibody cocktail in the first quarter of 2022 now that it has been found to be ineffective against the omicron variant
Regeneron expects no sales of its Covid-19 antibody cocktail REGEN-COV in the first quarter of 2022 now that it has been found to be ineffective against the omicron variant, the company's top executives said during a 4Q earnings call Friday.
“We recently announced that REGEN-COV is highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant,” said CEO Leonard Schleifer. Last month, the FDA revoked its emergency use authorization for both Regenron’s and Eli Lilly’s antibody therapies after laboratory studies found them to be ineffective against the omicron variant, which now accounts for nearly all cases in the U.S. “It's highly unlikely that COVID-19 patients seeking care in the U.S. at this time are infected with a variant other than omicron, and these treatments are not authorized to be used at this time,” said the FDA in a press release.
Regenron’s antibody therapy was administered to millions of people across the globe last year. The company said it has already delivered the remaining of the 1.4 million doses that were purchased by the U.S government. In 2021, the company says its revenues increased 89% to $16.07 billion compared to 2020, with $6.19 billion attributable to REGEN-COV.
Regenron’s focus is on upscaling its new antibodies which have shown to work against all variants of concern, including omicron and delta. “We are scaling up manufacturing efforts and completing the necessary requirements to begin clinical trials,” Schleifer said. As the pandemic turns endemic, the company’s monoclonal antibodies therapy could be used as prevention for immunocompromised patients who don’t respond to Covid-19 vaccines, he added.
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