Regeneron also announced an expanded contract with the U.S. government for the purchase of additional doses of REGEN-COV.
Regeneron has chosen Amber Specialty Pharmacy and Hy-Vee Pharmacy Solutions for dispensing and coordinating administration of Regeneron’s REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab) monoclonal antibody to treat and prevent COVID-19. The organizations have 21 locations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. All locations are licensed to administer the REGEN-COV antibody treatment. A list of locations can be found here.
REGEN-COV is was approved under an Emergency Use Authorization to both treat non-hospitalized patients and prevent infection from COVID-19. In July, Regeneron had received an expanded EUA for the post-exposure prophylaxis in people exposed to COVID-19. This was supported by phase 3 data showing 81% reduced risk of symptomatic infections in close contacts of those who have COVID-19.
Regeneron also announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense will purchase 1.4 million additional doses of REGEN-COV. The government will continue to provide REGEN-COV at no cost to patients. Under the new agreement, Regeneron will supply the additional 1,200 mg doses of REGEN-COV to the U.S. government by January 31, 2022, at a cost of $2,100 per dose. This new agreement follows two earlier agreements with the U.S. government announced in July 2020 and January 2021.
Regeneron expects to begin delivering the additional REGEN-COV doses to the U.S. government in September, with the vast majority delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021.
"While vaccination remains the first line of defense to decrease the burden of COVID-19, REGEN-COV is a key tool that reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by 70% in high-risk individuals when given early in the course of the infection. Recently there has been greater demand for REGEN-COV, and we will provide additional doses to the U.S. government as quickly as possible,” Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Regeneron, said in a statement.
The company continues development of the antibody treatment for the prevention of symptomatic infection in asymptomatic household contacts (both uninfected and infected) of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals; treatment of non-hospitalized patients already infected with SARS-CoV-2, and treatment of certain patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection, including the UK RECOVERY trial.
REGEN-COV is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies that was designed specifically to block infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 using Regeneron’s proprietary VelocImmune and VelociSuite technologies
David Calabrese of OptumRx Talks Top Three Drugs in Pipeline, Industry Trends in Q2
July 1st 2020In this week's episode of Tuning Into The C-Suite podcast, MHE's Briana Contreras chatted with David Calabrese, R.Ph, MHP, who is senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer of pharmacy care services company, OptumRx. David is also a member of Managed Healthcare Executives’ Editorial Advisory Board. During the discussion, he shared the OptumRx Quarter 2 Drug Pipeline Insights Report of 2020. Some of the information shared includes the three notable drugs currently being reviewed or those that have been recently approved by the FDA. Also discussed were any interesting industry trends to watch for.
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