(Reuters) -Eli Lilly and Company said on Wednesday the U.S. government bought 388,000 additional doses of its COVID-19 antibody therapy, as infections surge due to the fast-spreading Delta variant.
The news comes after Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said late on Tuesday the U.S. government was buying 1.4 million additional doses of its COVID-19 antibody cocktail, REGEN-COV.
Lilly said its deal with the U.S government is expected to generate approximately $330 million in revenue in the second half of 2021, with about 200,000 doses expected to be shipped in the third quarter this year and the remaining in fourth.
“The recent increase in COVID-19 cases has caused a substantial rise in the utilization of monoclonal antibody drugs, particularly in areas of the country with low vaccination rates,” Lilly’s chief scientific and medical officer Daniel Skovronsky said.
The drugmaker will supply additional doses of etesevimab to be paired with doses of its other COVID-19 antibody therapy, bamlanivimab, previously purchased by the U.S. government.
Bamlanivimab and etesevimab are authorized for use in people 12 years and above with mild-to-moderate infection and at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
