NEW DELHI:
Apollo Hospital
in the city claimed to have become the
first
to administer
Roche’s antibody cocktail
to a
patient
with a high risk from
Covid-19
. The antibody cocktail was administered to a 65-year-old man who responded well and was discharged after an hour of observation. It was administered to patients with mild and moderate Covid and at high risk of developing severe Covid, officials said.
The antibody cocktail was launched on May 24 in India by Roche after receiving Emergency Use Authorisation from Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation.
Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director, Apollo Hospitals, said that “monoclonal antibodies bind to and ‘neutralise’ the SARS-CoV-2 virus.” “We are confident that this treatment option will significantly boost our efforts to bring the pandemic under control and will help prevent progression of the disease in those with mild to moderate Covid-19.”
Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior pulmonologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, says that the reason why this therapy is termed as an antibody cocktail is because it comprises a mixture of more than two biological drugs that mirror the human antibodies in the immune system, which consequently help fight the infection, similar to the natural antibodies produced when one gets infected with Covid.