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Eli Lilly announces first human anti-body trial to treat COVID-19

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Posted at 10:06 AM, Jun 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-02 13:49:02-04

INDIANAPOLIS — The first human trial of antibody therapy to treat COVID-19 is now underway.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly announced patients in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta are now receiving the treatment.

The company's chief scientific officer says as soon as the pandemic started, his team went to work to create a new medicine against the disease.

The medicine was the result of a blood sample from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from COVID-19. Researchers then sorted through millions of this patient's cells to find hundred of antibodies.

The trial's first phase will test whether the therapy is safe and well-tolerated. Results are expected later this month.