Mohali: The ‘antibody cocktail’ therapy was administered to a 72-year-old Covid positive patient who is a diabetic with chronic kidney disease, at the Fortis Hospital here Sunday.
Administered one dose of the cocktail intravenously, the patient is reportedly stable post infusion, said the Fortis Hospital.
The ‘antibody cocktail therapy’ is for those above the age of 65, who are isolating at home, have a saturation oxygen of 93, require no oxygen support but are at risk of developing a severe form of the infection on account of their co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, liver disease, heart ailments, or chronic lung disease.
It can also be administered to those suffering from an immuno-compromising condition or those with weakened immunity on account of immune suppressive treatment.
Dr Zafar Ahmed, Senior Consultant – Critical Care, Pulmonology and Chest and Sleep Medicine in Fortis Hospital, said like antibodies, which are proteins generated by the body to fight disease, monoclonal antibodies are “artificially created in the lab”.
In this cocktail, Casirivimab and Imdevimab are monoclonal antibodies that specifically block the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, thereby preventing the coronavirus attachment and entry into human cells.
As much as 600 grams of each are mixed forming the cocktail. This is another very important step that has been taken by the medical community to effectively combat the pandemic and help people recover faster.
Fortis on Saturday announced that two doses of Roche India’s antibody cocktail (Casirivimab and Imdevimab) distributed by Cipla Ltd is available for administration to patients with mild and moderate Covid-19 infection.
Launched May 24 in India by Roche India, the antibody cocktail has received emergency use authorization from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation.