Bebtelovimab Appears Reliable for COVID-19 During Omicron Epoch

MONDAY, Sept. 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For high-risk patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 during the omicron epoch, bebtelovimab seems to be a reliable treatment option, according to a study published online Sept. 17 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Raymund R. Razonable, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 3,607 high-risk patients to examine the effectiveness of bebtelovimab in real-world settings. A total of 2,833 patients received bebtelovimab and 774 received nirmatrelvir-ritonavir.

The researchers found that compared with nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, bebtelovimab was used more often for treatment of COVID-19 among older patients, immunosuppressed patients, and those with multiple comorbidities. The rates of progression to severe disease by 30 days after treatment were not significantly different after bebtelovimab versus nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment (1.4 versus 1.2 percent). The rate of admission to the intensive care unit was comparable between the groups (0.5 and 0.3 percent for those receiving bebtelovimab and nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment, respectively).

"This study gives us confidence that bebtelovimab is reliable for the treatment of high-risk patients during this omicron epoch characterized by increasingly new variants, and gives us another tool in the effort against COVID-19," Razonable said in a statement.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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