The 19 hospitalized patients from a single nursing home had tested positive for the virus in April.
All were older than age 64 and had chronic health conditions such as hypertension, dementia, heart disease, diabetes and lung diseases. Their age and health issues are considered risk factors for severe COVID-19.
The patients received either one or two intravenous doses of itolizumab along with the standard treatments used in Cuba at the time. Those included antiviral drugs, antibiotics, chloroquine, interferon, and blood thinners. Only two patients required oxygen therapy after the first dose, and all but one were discharged from the hospital in 14 days.
N”(Reuters) — An antibody drug already being used against the coronavirus in Cuba decreased the risk of intensive care admission and death among nursing home residents with moderate COVID-19, according to a small study conducted in the island nation.
India’s Biocon Ltd said earlier this month it received regulatory approval in India for itolizumab for use in coronavirus infected patients with moderate-to-severe respiratory distress. It was originally tested as a treatment for psoriasis.
Researchers, including from Cuba’s Center of Molecular Immunology, which developed itolizumab, said timely use of the drug in combination with standard therapy helped reduce inflammation and prevented COVID-19 from worsening.