Just six days after they said they were filing an emergency approval application for its COVID-19 monoclonal antibody drug, Eli Lilly has paused the drug’s clinical trials, citing “potential safety concerns” as the reason.
October 7, 2020, Lilly touted the drug for being “effective in reducing levels of the virus that causes Covid-19 in patients, and also appears to prevent patients from visiting the emergency room or hospital,” and that it had already begun talks with the FDA on getting its emergency use authorization, according to Business Insider.
Regarding the trial’s sudden pause, “multiple officials told researchers to stop adding volunteers to the study out of an ‘abundance of caution,’” according to The New York Times, which added that requests for comment from the company’s testing centers were not answered.
SOURCES:
The New York Times October 13, 2020
Business Insider October 13, 2020
Business Insider October 7, 2020