KEY POINTS

  • Regeneron announce drug's human trial by early summer
  • The drug would be manufactured on a large scale
  • Drug would use antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients
  • Health workers and high-risk people would be prioritized

Regeneron announced that a potential "cocktail" drug that they have manufactured would be ready for human clinical trial early this summer.

In a New York Post article, the biotech giant said in a Tuesday statement that it plans to start the large-scale manufacturing of the drug by the middle of next month.

“There are always so many moving parts, but we’re hitting our best numbers, our best timelines, and things are going really well,” Dr. George Yancopoulos, Regeneron’s co-founder told CNBC.

Scientists in Regeneron developed the therapy the same way they made the treatment for Ebola by using genetically engineered mice having human-like immune systems and exposed them to a target protein that allows them to develop human antibodies.

Officials said that the comapny has isolated antibodies from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and said that they would select the top two antibodies to form the "cocktail" treatment.

Health experts, including former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that this procedure could be effective in the fight against COVID-19.

Health-care workers and other high-risk groups would most likely be prioritized and would receive the preventive drug first.

Researchers are racing to develop treatments for the coronavirus as hospitals battle its spread
Researchers are racing to develop treatments for the coronavirus as hospitals battle its spread AFP / STR
Coronavirus Medicine