Vaccines are still the very best way to prevent COVID-19 or to avoid severe
illness, hospitalization or death from the virus. However, for those individuals
who test positive for coronavirus and have underlying health conditions,
Southeast Georgia Health System offers an outpatient monoclonal antibody
therapy that may help avoid hospitalization or severe illness.
Regeneron monoclonal antibody therapy (Regeneron infusion) helps the immune
system stop COVID-19 from spreading in people with mild to moderate symptoms.
The antibodies are synthetic proteins that are manufactured in a lab.
The therapy is not new, doctors have long used this treatment to deliver
drugs or radioactive substances directly to cancer cells. The U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) has given monoclonal antibody therapy emergency
use authorization for the treatment of COVID-19. According to the FDA,
clinical trials showed that COVID-19 patients who received antibody infusions
had a significant reduction in hospitalization and death compared to patients
who received a placebo.
The Health System began offering antibody infusions in November 2020 at
Glynn Immediate Care Center in Brunswick with a goal to treat as many
high-risk patients as possible to prevent symptoms from progressing to
severe illness and hospitalization.
In addition to Glynn Immediate Care Center, antibody infusions are currently
offered at the Brunswick and Camden Campus Emergency Care Centers
Do You Qualify for Treatment?
Monoclonal antibodies are used to treat mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19
in non-hospitalized adults and adolescents (12 years and older) with a
BMI greater than 25. Vaccinated and unvaccinated high-risk individuals
can receive antibody infusions if they meet the following criteria:
- Diagnosed with COVID-19
- At high risk for severe illness, hospitalization or death
- Not currently experiencing severe symptoms
Qualified individuals must be evaluated at Glynn Immediate Care Center
or in the Brunswick or Camden Campus Emergency Care Centers. There is
no cost to the patient for the therapy; however, an administration fee
will be filed with the patient’s insurance company.