WASHINGTON, February 15,2022: US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly won a more than $1 billion US army contract for the manufacture and distribution of the monoclonal antibody drug bebtelovimab in support of the national emergency response to COVID-19, the Defense Department said in a press release.
Last week, the food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency authorization to bebtelovimab, an antibody that neutralizes the Omicron variant.
The company announced last week that the US and Eli Lilly had struck a deal to supply up to 600,000 doses of bebtelovimab for at least $720 million.
Eli Lilly has said that monoclonal antibodies, such as bebtelovimab, may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when given to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in need of high flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
