| Regeneron says antibody therapy prevents COVID-19 infections Good news on the coronavirus therapeutics front: Regeneron says its antibody cocktail prevents symptomatic COVID-19. While much of the attention has been focused on vaccines, experts say therapeutic treatments are just as important to ending the pandemic, which has killed more than 562,000 Americans. To that end, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it is planning to ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow its antibody cocktail to be used as a preventive treatment for COVID-19. New results from a clinical trial conducted with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found the drug reduced the risk of symptomatic infection by 81 percent in people who were not infected at the start of the trial, Regeneron said. Details: The trial enrolled 1,505 people who were not infected with the virus but lived in the same household as someone who recently tested positive. The patients were randomized to receive either one dose of the antibody therapy or a placebo administered as injections. The drug provided 72 percent protection against symptomatic infections in the first week and 93 percent protection in subsequent weeks, Regeneron said. Helpful results: The trial tested the antibody treatment for use as a "passive vaccine," which involves directly injecting antibodies into the body. Traditional vaccines rely on a person's immune system to activate and develop its own antibodies. That means the treatment may provide immediate benefits, in contrast to active vaccines, which take weeks to provide protection. In addition, using injections rather than an infusion could make administering it more convenient than the currently authorized use for antibody drugs. Read more here. WHO warns global COVID-19 pandemic 'growing exponentially' Top World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Monday warned against "complacency" in fighting COVID-19 amid a troubling spike in cases worldwide. There were 4.4 million new cases recorded in the last week, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, the seventh week in a row of increasing cases. That's compared to about 500,000 cases per week a year ago. Deaths have been rising for four weeks. "It is growing exponentially," Van Kerkhove said of cases on a global basis. Vaccines aren't the only response: While vaccinations are rolling out and offer hope for gaining control of the pandemic, many countries, especially lower-income ones, have vaccinated only a small fraction of their population, amid a scramble for limited doses on a global scale. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries and individuals to maintain other precautions like masking, distancing and testing. Global situation affects the US too: If the virus is circulating anywhere in high numbers, it provides opportunities for new variants of the virus to develop. Read more here. Fauci says some 'breakthrough' infections after vaccinations 'inevitable' It seems like common sense, but the nation's top infectious disease expert wants to make sure people understand that a vaccine with 95 percent efficacy is not 100 percent effective. Anthony Fauci on Monday said it is inevitable that some people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will still get a "breakthrough" infection, because no vaccine is 100 percent effective. What this means: A breakthrough infection is when a person contracts an illness despite being vaccinated against it. Fauci noted that there will be hundreds, and maybe thousands of instances of completely vaccinated people getting infected with COVID-19. The key is to compare the small number of infections to the tens, and eventually hundreds, of millions of people who've been vaccinated, Fauci said. And even if a vaccine fails to protect against infection, it often protects against serious disease. "We see this with all vaccines, in clinical trials, in the real world," Fauci said during a virtual White House briefing. "No vaccine is 100 percent efficacious, or effective, which means that you will always see breakthrough infections, regardless of the efficacy of your vaccine." Read more here. | 
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