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Eli Lilly Kicks Off Covid-19 Antibody Trial In Nursing Home Residents

Eli Lilly has announced the initiation of BLAZE-2, a Phase 3 trial studying LY-CoV555 for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 in residents and staff at long-term care facilities in the US. Shares are rising 2% in Monday’s pre-market trading.

LY-CoV555, the lead antibody from Lilly’s (LLY) collaboration with AbCellera, is a neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 among residents of long-term care facilities combined with the higher mortality rate for the elderly creates the urgent need for therapies to prevent COVID-19 in this vulnerable population.

“COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on nursing home residents. We’re working as fast as we can to create medicines that might stop the spread of the virus to these vulnerable individuals” commented Daniel Skovronsky, of Lilly Research Laboratories. “While it’s not easy to conduct clinical trials in this setting, we’re taking on the challenge in an effort to help those who need us the most” he added.

LLY is carrying out the first-of-its-kind COVID-19 trial with NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) and several long-term care facility networks.

The study will enroll residents and staff who live or work at facilities that have had a recently diagnosed case of COVID-19 and who are now at a high risk of exposure. It will evaluate the efficacy and safety of LY-CoV555 for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19, testing whether a single dose of LY-CoV555 reduces the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection through 4 weeks, as well as complications of COVID-19 through 8 weeks. It is expected to enroll up to 2,400 participants. 

To carry out the trial, Lilly has created customized mobile research units to support the on-site study and will deploy additional staff at the facilities.

Lilly has successfully completed dosing of LY-CoV555 in a Phase 1 study of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and long-term follow-up is ongoing. BLAZE-1, a Phase 2 study in people recently diagnosed with COVID-19 in the ambulatory setting, is ongoing.  Based on current trends, enrollment is estimated to be completed in September, with initial data readout soon after followed by full data in Q4. LY-CoV555 has been well tolerated at all doses tested and no drug-related severe adverse events (SAEs) have been observed to date, the company says.

Despite trials still ongoing, LLY is already engaging in large-scale manufacturing of this potential therapy. It is aiming to have over 100,000 doses available by the end of the year should LY-CoV555 prove to be a meaningful therapeutic option for COVID-19.

Overall LLY scores a cautiously optimistic Moderate Buy consensus from the Street. That’s with an average analyst price target of $173 (15% upside potential). Shares are up 14% year-to-date.

Mizuho Securities analyst Vamil Divan has just reiterated his Hold rating on the stock with a $164 price target after Eli Lilly reported 2Q 2020 results that missed on the topline, but beat handily on the bottom line. LLY also significantly raised their FY 2020 EPS guidance, driven mainly by increased Other Income, lower expenses and a lower tax rate.

“Lilly’s 2Q20 revenue of $5.50B was well below our $5.84Bn estimate and Consensus at $5.76Bn, with the company seeing a $500M headwind from the COVID-19 pandemic (half mainly due to runoff of inventory stocking from 1Q20 while the other half was due to delayed new prescription trends) and increased pricing pressures” he commented. (See LLY stock analysis on TipRanks)

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Harriet Lefton
Harriet Lefton, originally from the UK, began her career as a journalist specialising in the niche world of metal markets. She graduated from the University of Cambridge before becoming a qualified UK lawyer. Now she has turned her attention to the world of financial blogging, covering US stocks, analysts and all manner of things finance-related.

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