Vancouver-based biotechnology company CytoDyn announced Thursday that it received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin testing medication on two COVID-19 patients.
CytoDyn’s signature product, leronlimab, is an antibody originally developed to combat HIV infections, but CytoDyn is theorizing that it could also function as an anti-inflammatory agent that would prevent patients from developing Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, one of the potentially lethal complications that can arise from COVID-19 infections.
The two patients have begun to receive leronlimab treatment at a medical center in the New York City area, according to a press release from CytoDyn. The company described the two patients as among the most severe COVID-19 cases at the facility. Neither patient has had any serious adverse reactions to the medication thus far, the company said.
