U.S. reaches $375 million deal for Lilly COVID-19 antibody drug

Eli Lilly & Co. says it will provide 300,000 doses of bamlanivimab, its experimental COVID-19 antibody drug, to the U.S. government for $375 million if the medicine receives FDA’s emergency use authorization. HHS says the federal government will distribute the doses to state and territorial health departments, which will be responsible for determining which hospitals and health facilities receive the drug. Lilly says under the supply agreement, each vial costs $1,250, and a single vial would be sufficient for an individual patient. Federal health officials say patients will not be charged out-of-pocket costs for the drug, but health care facilities may charge a fee for administering the drug via I.V. infusion. In a clinical trial, bamlanivimab (originally LY-CoV555) kept a higher proportion of recently diagnosed COVID-19 patients out of the hospital compared with those who received a placebo. Lilly anticipates manufacturing up to 1 million doses by the end of the year. The new supply agreement has an option for the federal government to purchase up to an additional 650,000 vials through June 30, 2021, at a cost of up to $812.5 million. Lilly and federal researchers are also testing bamlanivimab for its ability to prevent disease in people at risk of infection, including nursing-home residents and staff.