The drugmaker Eli Lilly says it has initial promising results from a placebo-controlled trial of a drug that could be used to treat COVID-19.  It uses what’s called monoclonal antibodies, which are engineered versions of the same  antibodies that the body naturally produces to fight off disease.

On Wednesday, Eli Lilly reported on initial results from the trial, which involved using a compound cloned from antibodies from convalescent plasma, the blood of a patient who had recovered from COVID-19.

The trial began in June and gave patients with mild to moderate symptoms, who had tested positive for COVID-19, either a placebo or a dose of the antibody, called LY-CoV555.  There were 452 patients in the trial.

Initial results showed a reduced risk of hospitalization vs those patients given a placebo, and the drug maker reported no serious side effects.  The plan now is to expand the trial.

According to the company, Eli Lilly was founded in 1876 by Colonel Eli Lilly, “a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that met real needs in an era of unreliable elixirs peddled by questionable characters.”  The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and does clinical research in 55 countries.

Photo courtesy Eli Lilly.