HHS creates online locator for COVID-19 outpatient antibody treatment sites

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched an online site dedicated to locating potential treatment sites for providers and patients seeking monoclonal antibody therapeutic treatments for COVID-19 cases.

The therapeutics distribution page shows locations where these products have been delivered, complete with facility names, addresses, and type of therapeutic available. Only facilities open to the general public are listed. Likewise, if those supplies are earmarked for treatment of specific groups, the facility is not listed.

“We are focused intently on supporting healthcare providers in their efforts to save lives in this pandemic,” said Dr. Robert Kadlec, HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). “We know that many hospitals are overwhelmed with the recent rise in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and hospital staff are exhausted after months of pandemic response. This treatment locator allows patients and providers to find sites for outpatient treatment options, which may help reduce the number of people who require hospitalization for COVID-19 care, which in turn reduces the strain on our nation’s hospitals and their staff.”

To guarantee the supply of these treatments, though, HHS has contracted with Regeneron for approximately 300,000 courses of casirivimab/imdevimab and with Eli Lilly and Company to purchase approximately 3 million courses of bamlanivimab. As of Jan. 6, 2021, HHS estimated that more than 641,000 therapeutics had been delivered to states and territories and that around 75 percent of these treatments remain available for authorized patient populations.

As to the locator, state and territorial health departments will have to opt in to have information for facilities within their jurisdictions to be made available. So far, 22 state and territorial health departments have opted in.