NIH launches late stage trial testing for blood-based antibody treatment taken with antiviral Remdesivir

FILE – This April 30, 2020, file photo shows Gilead Sciences headquarters in Foster City, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:18 AM PT – Friday, October 9, 2020

Another possible coronavirus treatment has entered phase three clinical trials with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) being optimistic about its potential.

On Thursday, the NIH announced the inpatient treatment with anti-coronavirus immunoglobulin study had officially begun. The trial is testing the efficacy of hyperimmune intravenous immunoglobulin (HIVIG), which is a blood product containing antibodies from people who have recovered from the coronavirus in conjunction with anti-viral drug Remdesivir.

Remdesivir was issued Emergency Use Authorization back in May and works by preventing the virus from producing enzymes needed to replicate itself within the body.

The drug was developed by Gilead and has been consistently shown to shorten hospital stays of coronavirus patients, including President Trump who was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for just three-days.

Full results from the @NIAIDNews study of our investigational antiviral treatment for COVID-19 were published today in @NEJM. Read more: https://t.co/0ORtYDImFr

— Gilead Sciences (@GileadSciences) October 8, 2020

Researchers hope the combination of Remdesivir and anti-bodies, which can neutralize the virus and prevent it from infecting healthy cells, will help boost patients’ immune systems so they can better battle the virus.

500 volunteers across 18 countries that are currently infected with COVID-19 are involved in the study, which is is set to conclude by early November.