Eli Lilly antibody trial paused over safety concerns
A government-sponsored clinical trial testing a coronavirus antibody treatment from Eli Lilly has stopped enrolling volunteers over safety concerns — days after the company asked the FDA to approve emergency use of the treatment.
"Lilly is supportive of the decision by the independent [data safety monitoring board] to cautiously ensure the safety of the patients participating in this study," a company spokesperson said Tuesday.
Neither Lilly nor the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is sponsoring the trial, have described the safety issue that prompted the decision to pause the study.
Checking in: The trial design calls for the data and safety monitoring board to examine results from the first 300 participants — including their need for supplemental oxygen, mechanical ventilation or other supportive care five days after receiving the treatment or a placebo — before proceeding with further enrollment.
The NIAID trial has so far enrolled 326 patients. An agency spokesperson said that the board overseeing the trial this morning "reached a predefined boundary for safety at day five." The board will now decide whether the trial should add 700 more participants.
The NIAID spokesperson added that the pause in enrollment is "out of an abundance of caution" and the safety board is "continuing data collection and follow-up of current participants for safety and efficacy."
The late-stage study is examining whether Lilly's antibody, known as bamlanivimab, could help hospitalized patients. The treatment is a monoclonal antibody that mimics the antibodies the body makes naturally. It's similar to the Regeneron antibody cocktail that President Donald Trump received recently after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
Background: Last week, Lilly asked the FDA to grant an emergency-use authorization that would allow use of the antibody treatment in high-risk patients recently diagnosed with mild-to-moderate Covid-19.
That application is largely based on preliminary data from a Phase II trial released in mid-September that showed patients who received any dose of the antibody were less likely to be hospitalized or visit the ER.
What's next: The data and safety monitoring board overseeing the trial will review data again at a preplanned meeting on October 26. The board will recommend at that meeting whether or not enrollment should be resumed, according to NIAID.
