Baptist Health Offers Promising Therapy for Patients with COVID-19

One year into the global COVID-19 pandemic, the virus continues to spread at a rapid pace. While the much-anticipated vaccination process has begun, other therapeutic treatments are also showing promise. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to permit Lilly Pharmaceutical’s bamlanivimab for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.

Baptist Health is offering the intravenous (IV) infusion treatment to patients that fall under FDA guidelines, specifically: positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing and those who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. Some of the risk factors include a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 35, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, immunosuppressive disease or hypertension.

(David Mishkin, M.D., Assistant Medical Director of Emergency Medicine for Baptist Health South Florida, explains the potential benefits of receiving a bamlanivimab infusion. Video by Dylan Kyle.)

Bamlanivimab is a “neutralizing antibody drug,” as described by Lilly. By using man-made antibodies similar to those in patients who have recovered from COVID-19, bamlanivimab may help limit the amount of COVID-19 virus in the body if administered within 10 days of symptoms developing.

Click HERE to learn more about COVID-19 and resources available through Baptist Health South Florida.