Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has approved Regeneron’s casirivimab and imdevimab antibody cocktail to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. This marks the first time the antibody cocktail, known as REGEN-COVTM in the U.S. and Ronapreve™ in other countries, has received a full approval to treat COVID-19. Emergency or temporary pandemic use authorizations are currently in place in more than 20 countries, including in the U.S., European Union, India, Switzerland and Canada.
“After a record-speed discovery and development program, we are pleased that our COVID-19 antibody cocktail continues to reach even more people around the globe,” said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron. “Unfortunately, this virus continues to spread despite increasing rates of vaccination, and there will be an important continued need for treatments that remain active against the variants of concern.”
In Japan, the antibody cocktail was granted a Special Approval Pathway under article 14-3 of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act. The approval was based on results from a Phase 3 trial in high-risk non-hospitalized patients, which showed the antibody cocktail reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 70%, as well as results from a Phase 1 trial that examined the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics in Japanese people.
Regeneron invented REGEN-COV and is collaborating with Roche to increase global supply of the antibody cocktail, with Roche primarily responsible for development and distribution outside the U.S. In December 2020, Chugai obtained development and exclusive commercialization rights in Japan from Roche, and is working with the Japanese government to ensure an appropriate and timely supply of the antibody cocktail.
The development and manufacturing of REGEN-COV have been funded in part with federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, under OT number: HHSO100201700020C.
About Regeneron
Regeneron is a leading biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Founded and led for over 30 years by physician-scientists, our unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to nine FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development, almost all of which were homegrown in our laboratories. Our medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, pain, hematologic conditions, infectious diseases and rare diseases.
