Experimental COVID-19 drug being given to some patients in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A new and rare experimental drug has been administered to seven patients at UCHealth hospitals who have COVID-19.

UCHealth was given 650 doses of Bamlanivimab, a potential treatment option for COVID-19. The drug is still in clinical trials and is meant to help prevent the virus from getting worse in patients. It also aims to help prevent people from being admitted to hospitals.

KRDO spoke with Carrie Beckman, an investigational drug pharmacist at UCHealth Memorial Central, about the medication.

Chase Golightly: What is Bamlanivimab supposed to do to someone who has COVID-19 and is administered it?

Carrie Beckman: “The goal of this medication is hopefully to prevent hospital admissions. So we want to have those patients with those high-risk conditions who could get severe COVID-19 hopefully if they get this it would decrease the number of them who would have to go to the hospital. We know that our hospitals are very full right now, we want to do anything we can to avoid having patients getting admitted.”

“It kind of neutralizes the virus and hopefully it can get rid of it.”

Even though it is still in clinical trials, how successful is Bamlanivimab in helping COVID-19 patients?

“Evidence shows that it’s possibly effective.”

"The evidence that was submitted to the FDA by the company, they looked at a few things... the study looked at hospitalization rates and they found that patients who got this medication, the Bamlanivimab, were admitted to the hospital less and when they looked at patients who had these high-risk conditions there was an even bigger difference from placebo to this medication in the number of patients who got admitted."

“I don’t want to say that it’s a miracle drug and it has perfect efficacy but I think anything we can have to help keep people out of the hospital is worth having.”

How is it administered to patients and how long does treatment take?

"This medication is given through an IV. It's given as an infusion over 60 minutes and there is a required observation afterward for another 60 minutes based on everything you have to do kind of before and after we're estimating it will take around three hours to get this treatment."

What are the side effects of this medication?

“This medication is pretty well tolerated. The side effects are some nausea, some diarrhea, dizziness. There is a small chance, like any monoclonal antibody, when you get this medication-infused that you could have a reaction and we have medications on hand in our infusion clinic to treat those kinds of reactions but there were not common when patients got this in the date that was submitted so far.”

Who is able to receive this treatment?

"It's not meant for hospitalized patients. This medication is for patients who are out of the hospital who have mild to moderate symptoms. They have to have a positive test and get this medication within ten days of their symptoms starting."

“It’s for patients who are at high risk of getting severe COVID-19, so it’s for patients who are 65 and older, for patients who have diabetes or other disease states that have them be considered amino compromised.”

For people who fit into that category, can they go to a UCHealth hospital in Colorado Springs and receive it right away?

“To get this medication if you are interested, you would want to work with your primary care provider. It’s not something you want to call the hospital to get it, you do need to have an order from your doctor or from your provider before we can get this medication.”

“Because of this limited supply, UCHealth and lots of other health systems are working with the state to make sure this is allocated and distributed fairly. The State has a website that your provider would need to go to enter your information, make sure you qualified, and at that point, it would be randomized to see if you got selected to receive some of the supply that we have.”

For people who qualify to receive the medication and are hesitant about it because it is experimental, what would you say to them?

“I think it’s really important for any patient who’s interested in this or worried about this to have a really clear discussion with their provider their physician and find out what the benefits would be for them and find out what the risks are for them. It’s something you really want to discuss and make sure you have all the information before you make a decision.”

What is the difference between Remdesivir, the drug President Donald Trump received when he was hospitalized with COVID-19, and Bamlanivimab?

“Remdesivir is a medication that is an anti-viral and right now it is used in hospitalized patients so patients who already have severe COVID-19 and are in the hospital. [Bamlanivimab] is a different kind of medication that’s a monoclonal antibody and it’s used at this point for mild to moderate patients who are not in the hospital.”