Study: Antibody cocktail by Regeneron cuts COVID-19 death risk by 20%

June 16 (UPI) -- A new study published on Wednesday said researchers have found that a coronavirus antibody treatment cocktail reduces the risk of COVID-19 deaths among hospitalized patients by 20%.

Researchers at Britain's University of Oxford found that the cocktail, produced by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, helped patients in hospital who hadn't mounted their own immune system response.

The REGEN-COV treatment uses two monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, that bind to two sites on the coronavirus' spike protein and blocks the virus from infecting cells.

Previous studies have shown the cocktail shortens duration of symptoms and reduces the risk of hospitalization or death.

"Definitive Phase 3 trials have now demonstrated that REGEN-COV can alter the course of COVID-19 infection from prevention to very early infection, all the way through to when patients are on a ventilator in the hospital," Regeneron President Dr. George Yancopoulos said in a statement.

Oxford University researcher Peter Horby called the study results "very exciting" and said the treatment may be used to reduce symptoms in some of the worst COVID-19 cases.

"It is wonderful to learn that even in advanced COVID-19 disease, targeting the virus can reduce mortality in patients who have failed to mount an antibody response of their own," Horby said in a statement.

The company said it will give the new data to regulatory authorities to expand availability for the treatment.