Monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 have been met with a hesitant response by hospitals, prompting piles of the drug to sit unused as coronavirus cases surge.
Therapies from Eli Lilly and Regeneron, which were approved for emergency use in November, are now seeing a lack of interest and awareness by primary-care doctors despite previous concerns that the drug would be in short supply, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
“Physicians are not ordering the drug,” said Michael Ison, an infectious disease physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who is helping lead the monoclonal antibody rollout across northern Illinois.
Emily Rubin, a pulmonary and critical-care physician spearheading rollout efforts at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said there has been hesitance among patients to receive drugs if they are experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19.
“A significant number of patients have declined it,” Rubin said.
The National Institutes of Health said there is not enough data to recommend against or for the use of the Eli Lilly and Regeneron therapies and that neither should be considered the standard care for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Monoclonal antibodies have been highly touted by President Trump, who used the treatment when he suffered from COVID-19 earlier this year. Trump called the drug “unbelievable” in October and said he hoped it could be distributed to patients across the country without cost.
The coronavirus has infected more than 19 million people in the U.S. and has killed over 330,000.
