Today many hospitals in the Toronto area will start to offer the Regeneron Monoclonal cocktail for the treatment of Covid-19. This is a ‘passive vaccination’ - providing artificial antibodies that otherwise develop naturally in vaccinated people.
I went over in some detail how these treatments are created last year. They are produced in a process that shares many steps with production of mRNA vaccines. One of them, @AbCelleraBio's Bamlanivimab, is designed in Canada and marketed by Eli Lilly.
They also represent a crucial part of an ‘immune system for society’ where we can handle new threats and variants that evade our vaccines. These are local companies that are going to help us fight these threats: @IncResilience @AbCelleraBio @PrecisionNano @Novavax @medicagoinc
It's unfortunate it took so long to use these drugs, they have been used for 8 months in the US. Our gatekeepers keep searching for ‘perfect’ evidence of effectiveness, as they did for masks & ventilation upgrades. Perfection can often be the enemy of good
theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…
I’ve been advocating for their use for the better part of the year, and worked with colleagues to build interest in them last summer. Sadly there wasn't much uptake.
Many of the patients that we saw succumb in the third wave in Toronto could have benefited from this treatment, but across the border in the US it was easily available. Thanks to @peesker for covering this story in the CBC:
cbc.ca/news/canada/ha…
Lilly’s enhanced antibody cocktail is still awaiting approval in Canada, but, ironically for a Canadian-made drug, has emergency use authorization in the US but not here.
canada.ca/en/health-cana…
Criteria differ at different hospitals, this is one from a Toronto hospital.
Regardless if you are unvaxxed or vaxxed, if you get sick and are within the treatment window, check with your local hospital if you qualify for 'passive immunization' with monoclonals ASAP
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