Monoclonal antibodies are finally being used in Italy to treat those infected before pneumonia develops.

A medium-sized hospital in Brooklyn, New York: over a thousand patients are hospitalized for Covid-19, about a hundred of them in intensive care. Patients are discharged from the ward within a few days, thanks to the drug-based therapy. monoclonal antibodies, the same one used at the time to quickly cure Donald Trump.

MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

But if at that time this treatment was a privilege for the benefit of people like the President of the United States, for some months now in several Anglo-Saxon countries, from America to England and Canada, monoclonal antibodies have represented the therapeutic breakthrough against coronavirusWith excellent results, both in terms of reduced mortality and hospital stays. This also results in savings and a reduction in waste for the healthcare system. Treatment at the Brooklyn hospital costs about $1.500-2.000, less than the cost of a single day's hospital stay.

HOW MONOCLONALS ARE USED

ALSO READ: Saliva test for coronavirus appears more effective than nasopharyngeal swabs.

WHAT ARE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES?

The functioning of monoclonal antibodies, to simplify the explanation, is the equivalent of a powerful biological weapon, exogenous (replacing that produced by the patient), capable of neutralize the coronavirus in just 72 hours, simply by preventing it from replicating in the body. And thus reducing, before it's too late, the risk of contracting pneumonia.

HOW MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WORK

The effectiveness of the therapy, capable of significantly reducing the viral load that leads to Covid-19, has been documented at various scientific levels. For example, the results of the treatment were published after the summer of 2020 by News England Journal of Medicine and demonstrated an extraordinary effect. In 72 percent of cases, this was thanks to monoclonal antibodies. the patient avoided hospitalization and was healed within a week.

TO KNOW MORE: Coronavirus, ventilation reduces risks. Infection rates are much higher indoors.

USE OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES IN ITALY

But if they are so effective and so widespread in hospitals around the world, why monoclonal antibody drugs were not used in Italy at the time, where for months hundreds of deaths per day from Covid-19 have continued to be counted? The question becomes even more disturbing if we add a not insignificant detail. A major BSP Pharmaceuticals plant for the production of this drug is located in Latina, in the Lazio region. Millions of packages have been shipped from here, destined for countries around the world. Everywhere, except Italy.

The missed opportunity becomes murky when we delve deeper into the reconstruction of this uniquely Italian anomaly. Last September, the American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly offered 10 doses of its anti-Covid monoclonal antibodies free of charge to test their efficacy and possible side effects on Italian patients. A clear, explicit, and transparent request.

And how did we respond? At first, we stalled, until a crucial meeting on October 29, 2020, attended by representatives of AIFA, the Ministry of Health, and the Technical-Scientific Committee, Italy's response became definitive: no, thanks, we're not interested in monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal Antibodies in Italy

Since then, in several Italian hospitals, on the front line of the anti-Covid front, people have been questioning the reasons for this choice, which we paid dearlyAnd several primary physicians do so with fiery emails addressed to the various organizations that played a role in this affair. They always receive the same response: silence. This silence was broken by the decision signed by Minister Roberto Speranza in early February to approve the administration of monoclonal antibodies from Eli Lilly and Regeneron, which are now, obviously, in short supply.

TO KNOW MORE: Pulse oximeter, the device you should always have at home during these coronavirus times

Italy lags behind on monoclonal antibodies

But going back to the waste of an absurd decision, which no one has yet had the courage to fully explain, there are at least two facts to keep in mind. First of all: this isn't the usual bureaucratic delay, a long-awaited signature that never arrives. No, it's a decision clearly made at the political level and by scientific advisors and institutional bodies that assist the government in these types of decisions. Without ever saying it publicly, but simply off the recordGiorgio Palù, professor of Microbiology and Virology, and president of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) since December 2020, considers clinical pharmacologist Nicola Magrini, director general of AIFA since March 2020, the main person responsible for the Italian no decreed on October 29 of last year.

WHO PRODUCES MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES?

The second fact instead leads to the chessboard of the trade war between producersThe Italian government has invested €380 million in the program for the production of monoclonal antibodies by Toscana Life Sciences, in collaboration with the Spallanzani Hospital. And perhaps someone didn't want to put obstacles in the way of this project.

In any case the only certainty is that we were the last to find the right drug against Covid-19 when we could have been the first, since we had it at home. And by squandering this opportunity, we unfortunately gave a boost, perhaps a decisive one, to that dramatic tally of coronavirus deaths in Italy.

Thus, after many delays and negative responses, monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 has finally begun in fifteen Italian regions. This applies especially to patients over 65 who have at least one risk factor for infection.

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date. Click here!

OUR SPECIAL ON CORONAVIRUS:

• Covid vaccine side effects: here are the symptoms to watch for.
• Pandemic and environmental damage, plastic boom. We need to dispose of 129 billion masks per month.
• Coronavirus and influenza: all the differences to recognize the Covid-19 virus