Trial begins with drug to treat severe COVID-19 pneumonia

A study just underway at UW Medicine is evaluating whether a lab-formulated monoclonal antibody could curb the over-amplified inflammatory response that some patients experience with COVID-19 pneumonia.

"We hope that this antibody will dampen inflammation in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia – people who need extra oxygen ... and hasten the improvement to where people are able to get off of (assisted) oxygen," said Dr. Mark Wurfel, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at UW Medicine in Seattle. 

The physician-researchers base their hope on evidence that the antibody helped reduce inflammation among people suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. 

The research trial is being funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.