65-yr-old man becomes 1st Covid-19 patient to get antibody cocktail at Apollo

A 65yearold man from Delhi having multiple comorbidities has become the first Covid19 patient to receive monoclonal antibody therapy at the Apollo hospital here the healthcare group said on FridayThe patient responded well to the infusion of the antibody cocktail and went home after an hour of observation on Thursday hospital authorities saidAs part of this single dose infusionbased treatment patients with mild to moderate symptoms are offered a cocktail of Casirivimab and Imdevimab that is said to reduce their chance of hospitalisation by 70 per centIn a statement Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals Delhi on Friday announced that Roche Indias antibody cocktail Casirivimab and Imdevimab distributed by Cipla Ltd is available for administration to patients with mild and moderate Covid19 infection at its facilityThe Antibody Cocktail was launched on May 24 in India by Roche India after receiving Emergency Use Authorisation EUA from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation CDSCO it saidThe first patient to receive the therapy at Apollo hospital here is a 65yearold Covid19 patient from Delhi who has multiple comorbidities including acute blood pressure a spokesperson of the hospital saidAlso Read84yrold man first in India to get antibody cocktail against Covid19 mutantWe are glad to have launched a panIndia program to make available this advanced treatment comprising of neutralising monoclonal antibodies for our patients with Covid19 said Anupam Sibal Group Medical Director Apollo Hospitals Group and seniors consultant paediatric gastroenterology at the hospitalMonoclonal antibodies bind to and neutralise the SARSCoV2 virus he said adding 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 Covid19The therapy is most suited for highrisk Covid19 patients who are within first ten days of symptom onset and meet any of the listed criteria such as age being 65 years or aboveOther criteria include obesity with BMI Body Mass Index of more than 35 or type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease including those on dialysis or chronic liver disease or currently receiving immunosuppressive treatment or if aged above 55 having either heart disease or hypertension or chronic lung diseaseDr Rajesh Chawla senior pulmonologist at Apollo hospital said the reason why this therapy is termed as an antibody cocktail is because it comprises a mixture of biological drugs Casirivimab and Imdevimab 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 Covid19 Both these antibodies also strengthen the immune defence system he saidThis drug is said to restrict pathogens and virus from entering the patients body from where they otherwise would have derived nutrition and multiplied This antibody cocktail will help prevent progression of the disease to a severe stage he saidMohabbat Singh an 84yearold Covid19positive man was given monoclonal antibody therapy at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon on Tuesday and was sent home the same day after being kept under observation hospital authorities said on Wednesday adding Singh became the first patient to receive the therapy at MedantaFortis Escorts Heart Institute FEHI in south Delhi after receiving doses on Wednesday has started offering the therapy from Thursday FEHI Chairman Dr Ashok Seth earlier saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever