Regeneron and Lilly are going to teach us a lot about Covid-19

It may be well into 2021 before we have definitive data on any coronavirus vaccines. But antibody treatments, meant to block the virus directly, are much quicker to develop. And the leaders in the field, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, are taking divergent approaches that will illuminate how best to treat Covid-19.

Regeneron is pressing forward with a two-antibody cocktail, believing that’s the best way to block the coronavirus we know today and offer protection against any so-called escape mutations, by which the virus evolves to evade the attack. Lilly, on the other hand, is developing a single antibody, which top scientist Daniel Skovronsky described as a matter of practicality over theory.

“Reducing the theoretical risk of escape mutations has a real cost, and the real cost is manufacturing, meaning you will have less doses available, meaning fewer people will be treated in this critical time period,” Skovronsky said yesterday in the latest edition of STAT+ Conversations. “So my view is we go for a single antibody, which means that we can treat twice as many people if it works.”

We’ll find out which approach was wiser in a matter of months.

Watch the full conversation.