REGN-COV2 antibodies prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infection in rhesus macaques and hamsters

A beneficial cocktail Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, considerable effort has gone into generating and characterizing neutralizing antibodies that could be used as therapeutics. Studies in humanized mice and convalescent humans led to the development of a cocktail of two potent antibodies that simultaneously bind to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and prevent the virus from entering host cells. Baum et al. evaluated the efficacy of this cocktail, REGN-COV2, in rhesus macaques, which may model mild disease, and in golden hamsters, which present more severe symptoms. The antibody cocktail provided benefits in both models when administered either prophylactically or therapeutically and is currently in clinical trials. Science, this issue p. 1110 In vivo efficacy of the REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail is evaluated in the rhesus macaque and golden hamster models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. An urgent global quest for effective therapies to prevent and treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is ongoing. We previously described REGN-COV2, a cocktail of two potent neutralizing antibodies (REGN10987 and REGN10933) that targets nonoverlapping epitopes on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. In this report, we evaluate the in vivo efficacy of this antibody cocktail in both rhesus macaques, which may model mild disease, and golden hamsters, which may model more severe disease. We demonstrate that REGN-COV-2 can greatly reduce virus load in the lower and upper airways and decrease virus-induced pathological sequelae when administered prophylactically or therapeutically in rhesus macaques. Similarly, administration in hamsters limits weight loss and decreases lung titers and evidence of pneumonia in the lungs. Our results provide evidence of the therapeutic potential of this antibody cocktail.