(Reuters) -Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday the U.S. government will buy 1.4 million additional doses of its COVID-19 antibody cocktail, REGEN-COV.
The cocktail, a combination of antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab, was authorized in November for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The new agreement brings the total doses purchased by the U.S. government to nearly 3 million.
The company, which completed its contract with the U.S. government of supplying 1.5 million doses in the second quarter, said it would supply the additional doses by Jan. 31 at a cost of $2,100 per dose. That values the latest contract at $2.94 billion.
“While vaccination remains the first line of defense to decrease the burden of COVID-19, REGEN-COV is a key tool that reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by 70% in high-risk individuals when given early in the course of the infection,” Regeneron Chief Executive Officer Leonard Schleifer said.
Shares of Regeneron were up 1.5% in trading after the bell.
(Reporting by Dania Nadeem in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
