Lilly, US health systems partner to set up Covid-19 antibody infusion centres

Eli Lilly and Company and local health systems have partnered to establish dedicated infusion centre locations in the US to offer Hoosiers with access to vital Covid-19 treatments.

The centres are serving central, northern and now southern Indiana.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) to various neutralising antibody therapies, administered via intravenous infusion, for treating mild to moderate Covid-19 in high-risk patients.

Eli Lilly Clinical Development senior vice-president Rob Metcalf said: “Throughout the implementation of our Covid-19 antibody clinical development programme, we have identified multiple approaches to address many of the challenges this virus has presented, including complexities experienced with intravenous administration during the pandemic.

“We are pleased to share our insights with the goal of enabling health systems to quickly provide access to the Covid-19 antibody therapies needed to fight this devastating virus in high-risk symptomatic patients.”

The opening of these infusion centres offers more dedicated locations, which help people in receiving Covid-19 infusion treatments.

Ascension St Vincent Evansville launched a dedicated infusion centre last week for Hoosiers in southern Indiana high-risk Covid-19 patients.

Furthermore, the company collaborated with the State of Indiana, Community Health Network, Eskenazi Health and Franciscan Health on an infusion centre serving the Central Indiana area.

It also partnered with Saint Joseph Health System, Beacon Health System and Goshen Health System on an infusion centre serving Northern Indiana.

So far, these centres could aid in delivering Covid-19 antibody therapy to over 1,700 Hoosiers who are high-risk patients.

Community Health Network chief medical officer Robin Ledyard said: “This partnership has allowed us to bring Covid-19 treatments to high-risk Hoosiers quickly and efficiently.

“It’s important to provide this essential option for these patients as we work together to battle this devastating disease.”

Last month, Lilly, Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) entered a partnership to analyse a combination of two therapies in low-risk patients with mild to moderate Covid-19.