(Reuters) – Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday the U.S. government has agreed to buy at least 100,000 doses of its newly authorized COVID-19 dual antibody cocktail for $210 million, with doses to be delivered through March-end.
The U.S. government will have the option to purchase up to an additional 1.1 million doses through Nov. 25, the company said.
The therapy contains two antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab and had got U.S. emergency use authorization earlier this month for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients who are at high risk of progressing to severe disease or hospitalization.
United States had already agreed to buy 1.45 million doses of bamlanivimab alone, Lilly said, adding that 1 million of doses have already been delivered and 450,000 additional doses will be delivered by March-end.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
