States and local health-care systems should expect to face some early challenges administering Eli Lilly’s coronavirus antibody drug, senior administration officials warned Tuesday, after the FDA authorized the drug to treat patients with Covid-19.
Eli Lilly’s drug, similar to the one given to President Donald Trump after he contracted the virus last month, is administered to Covid-19 patients via an IV infusion that takes more than an hour and requires another hour of observation afterward, officials said. That may be difficult in certain health-care settings, and Eli Lilly and the U.S. government are developing “playbooks” to help states navigate the process, said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
