Eli Lilly has reported interim analysis from a Phase II study of its antibody LY-CoV555 in mild-to-moderate recently diagnosed COVID-19 patients, and the data is promising.

According to Lilly, LY-CoV555 given at the middle dose level of 2800mg achieved the primary endpoint of change from baseline in viral load at day 11 in the BLAZE-1 study. The company added that LY-CoV555 improved viral clearance by day three and also reduced the number of patients with persistently high viral load at later time points.

Although the middle dose hit the primary endpoint, Lilly said that the other doses tested in the trial – 700mg and 7000mg – failed to hit this goal. Despite this, further exploratory analyses of LY-CoV555 indicated a more rapid improvement in symptoms for patients treated with the antibody compared to placebo, although Lilly didn’t say if this was statistically significant or not.

In addition to the promising benefit of the antibody, Lilly said that LY-CoV555 was well tolerated and that there were no serious treatment-related adverse events reported in the study.

"These interim data from the BLAZE-1 trial suggest that LY-CoV555, an antibody specifically directed against SARS-CoV-2, has a direct antiviral effect and may reduce COVID-related hospitalisations," said Daniel Skovronsky, chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories.

"The results reinforce our conviction that neutralising antibodies can help in the fight against COVID-19,” he added.

Earlier this year, Lilly collaborated with AbCellera to develop antibody therapies for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, with LY-CoV555 emerging from this partnership.

Following the promising Phase II results, Lilly is enrolling a larger cohort of high-risk COVID-19 patients, with a Phase III study also currently investigating LY-CoV555 for the prevention of COVID-19 in residents and staff at long-term care homes.