Eli Lil­ly's an­ti­body cuts risk of Covid-19 by up to 80% among the most vul­ner­a­ble — but will it have a place next to vac­cines?

Eli Lil­ly says bam­lanivimab low­ered the risk of con­tract­ing symp­to­matic Covid-19 in a first-of-its-kind tri­al in­volv­ing nurs­ing home res­i­dents and staff, paving the way for a new op­tion to pro­tect against the virus.

But how big of an im­pact it might have, and what role it will play, at a time vac­cines are be­ing rolled out to the ex­act pop­u­la­tion it is tar­get­ing still re­mains un­clear.

For its part, Lil­ly sees the an­ti­body serv­ing as one of a “di­verse set of ap­proach­es” that can help cer­tain pop­u­la­tions who ei­ther choose not to or aren’t able to get vac­ci­nat­ed. Or they don’t have a ro­bust re­sponse to a vac­cine.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER