Means antibody from the United States: Covid drug is very ineffective

The American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has made good profits in recent months thanks to the corona drug Bamlanivimab. But the preparations have now lost their emergency approval. This has consequences.

The American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has participated in the fight against the Corona pandemic with two drugs. However, one of them did not fulfill the original hopes, as the information provided by the group shows. The emergency approval that Bamlanivimab initially received has since been withdrawn by the FDA for use as a sole agent.

The antibody drug has recently been shown to be insufficiently effective against circulating virus mutations, according to the body’s inference. The United States government then canceled a portion of a larger order that had yet to be delivered. Eli Lilly has another drug on the market called etesevimab, and its emergency approval has not been withdrawn. Treatment with Bamlanivimab with this agent is still permitted according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Loss of sales and high search costs

The pharmaceutical giant should now – also according to expert estimates due to the expected loss in sales at Bamlanivimab – to lower its earnings forecast: Over the entire year, CEO David Rex expects a slight profit. The new earnings forecast of $ 7.03 to $ 7.23 per share for 2020 is about ten percent lower than the previous assumption and also significantly lower than the previous year’s result. In addition to the relapse with Bamlanivimab, increased research costs also impair the outcome.

Also bought by the federal government

In the first three months of this year, the group increased its sales by 16 percent to just under $ 6.8 billion. Trulicity and breast cancer drug Verzenio also acted as growth engines. At $ 1.4 billion, net profit was already well below the previous year’s level.

Antibody preparations like Eli Lilly’s have not been formally approved in Germany. Both funds were purchased by the federal government to treat high-risk patients. Ideally, it acts like a negative vaccination and prevents Sars-CoV-2 from entering human cells. According to experts, these preparations can be especially useful in the early stage of infection, when the virus is rapidly multiplying.