Regeneron Signs Government Contract For Coronavirus Vaccine

TARRYTOWN, NY — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement with the federal government to supply its double antibody cocktail currently in clinical trials for treatment and prevention of the new coronavirus. The $450 million contract was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense.

The antibody cocktail — named REGN-COV2 — is in two Phase 2/3 clinical trials for treatment of COVID-19 and in a Phase 3 trial for prevention of the viral infection, the Tarrytown-based company said in a press release.

Regeneron said the Phase 2/3 trial tests the cocktail's ability to treat both hospitalized and ambulatory patients diagnosed with COVID-19. This follows a positive review of Phase 1's safety results.

The Phase 3 prevention trial will determine whether the cocktail will keep uninfected people from becoming infected, if they have been in close contact with someone who is confirmed to be infected, such a housemate.

Clinical trials were announced in June.

Regeneron researchers said the drug cocktail is made of two non-competing and virus-neutralizing antibodies, that bind themselves to the virus's spike — the "corona." The cocktail has the potential to preempt "viral escape," something the virus does by mutating to prevent being neutralized.

The company said it began scaling up the cocktail's manufacturing process in the spring. The new agreement supports continued manufacturing so that the product could be made available immediately in the United States if clinical trials are successful and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants emergency use authorization or produce approval.

The government has committed to making doses of the cocktail available to the American people at no cost and would be responsible for their distribution, Regeneron said.

Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D, co-founder, president and CEO of Regeneron, said the company decided early on to start large-scale manufacturing of the cocktail on its own to make sure the product would be available immediately if clinical trials were successful.

"This manufacturing and supply agreement could help REGN-COV2 reach many people quickly, hopefully helping to change the course of this deadly and still-raging pandemic," he said.

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