Lilly, GSK and Vir join forces to trial bamlanivimab and VIR-7831 for COVID-19

In what is seen as a unique collaboration, Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Vir Biotechnology (Nasdaq: VIR) and GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) yesterday announced they were joining forces to evaluate a combination of two COVID-19 therapies in low-risk patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19.

Lilly has expanded its ongoing BLAZE-4 trial to evaluate the administration of bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) 700mg with VIR-7831 (also known as GSK4182136) 500mg, two neutralizing antibodies that bind to different epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This collaboration marks the first time that monoclonal antibodies from separate companies will be brought together to explore potential outcomes, they said.

Bamlanivimab emerged from the collaboration between Lilly and AbCellera to create antibody therapies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Bamlanivimab is authorized for emergency use for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.