NEW YORK - As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the United States and treatments are needed more than ever, clinical trials for some of the most promising experimental drugs are taking longer than expected.
"Of course, I wish we could go faster; there's no question about that," said the Eli Lilly executive, Dr Daniel Skovronsky."I guess in my hopes and dreams, we enroll the patients in a week or two, but it's taking longer than that." Although the Trump administration has heavily favoured investment in vaccines, Regeneron has won deals from the federal government worth more than US$500 million to ramp up manufacturing of its antibody treatment.
In remote meetings with doctors at trial sites around the country, Dr Skovronsky said some had to step out to care for patients who required emergency intervention. Dr Anita Kohli, director of research at Arizona Clinical Trials, a Regeneron trial site in Mesa, Arizona, said she got a rush of people wanting to volunteer for the outpatient study earlier this summer, when the outbreak was peaking in her state.But as labs were inundated with samples, straining supply chains and delaying results, Dr Kohli said enrolling patients became difficult.
At some hospitals, officials have been able to use existing facilities. In Tyler, Texas, the UT Health North Campus medical centre is an old tuberculosis hospital, with rooms that use negative air pressure to prevent viruses from spreading.
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