By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_ Singapore becomes the third country to start recruiting patients for the trial Activ-3 antibody Covid treatment , while 260 patients have been recruited globally as at yesterday (8th October), most of them were from Denmark and the United States.
In a statement issued on Wednesday (7th October), the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) announced that it aims to enroll 100 local COVID – 19 patients in Singapore, who are sick enough to be hospitalised.
Senior consultant and director of NCID’s infectious disease research and training office, Associate Professor David Lye said, “Monoclonal antibodies are the next promising phase of COVID -19 treatment trials.”  And this relevant monoclonal antibody was developed by American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Phase one of the trial has proven that it is safe, and can improve patients’ symptoms.
Patients who give consent to the trial will be randomly assigned to either of the two arms of study; monoclonal antibody or placebo. According to the NIH, it also can enroll additional volunteers in the middle of the trial, if a specific investigational treatment appears to be promising.
The NCID will not be enrolling healthy patients. Instead, high-risk patients older than 45, or patients with chronic health problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure will be included.
On Tuesday (6th October), it was reported that one of the two antibodies used to treat US President Donald Trump for Covid-19 was developed from blood samples of 3 patients in Singapore. However, the NCID has clarified that Activ-3 has no connection to that treatment.
Previously, the NCID participated in three COVID – 19 treatment trials known as ACTT1, ACTT2 and ACTT3. ACTT1 proved that the antiviral drug remdesivir is effective in improving recovery time and reducing mortality in patients with low oxygen flow. Therefore, the Health Sciences Authority has granted conditional approval to infectious disease specialists giving remdesivir to seriously ill COVID -19 patients.
The full results of the ACTT2 trail are due to be out in a month’s time, while the ACTT3 trial is currently ongoing.
Active -3 Antibody treatment
Active-3 is an antibody treatment trial for COVID -19 patients, launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the United States, a medical research agency, and a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
According to NIH, the treatment trial will be carried out by studying an investigational monoclonal antibody (LY-CoV555), which has been identified in a blood sample from a recovered COVID-19 patient. Antibodies are infection-fighting proteins made by the immune system that can bind to the surface of viruses and prevent them from infecting cells. Synthetic versions of these antibodies can be reproduced in a laboratory. These manufactured antibodies are known as monoclonal antibodies.
Edited by Indeewara Thilakarathne
