WSJ: Antibody Therapies Sitting Unused In Hospitals

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Doses of monoclonal antibodies—Covid-19 therapies authorized for emergency use last month—are sitting unused in hospital pharmacies, even as cases surge across the country.

Hospitals say the rollout of the therapies has been stunted by a lukewarm response from infectious-disease specialists, who say they want more clinical trial data before using them on a regular basis.

Medical centers are also grappling with a lack of awareness and interest from both the primary-care doctors who would normally prescribe the drug and patients who are offered it. And some places are dealing with a shortage of space and staff to administer the therapies.

Read the full article. No paywall.

At Mass General in Boston, ~10% of the hospital’s supply of Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab has been used so far, one doctor said. The hospital also has a small supply of Regeneron’s drug, but that hasn’t been used at all. https://t.co/iJ5ytO4XTz

— Sarah Toy (@sarahtoy17) December 27, 2020