FDA has granted emergency use authorization to the monoclonal antibody LY-CoV555 (bamlanivimab) from Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) to improve the prognosis for recently diagnosed, high-risk COVID-19 patients. 

But the investigational medicine must be delivered intravenously. That delivery method is a potential complication as healthcare facilities across the U.S. grapple with a surge of SARS-CoV-2 infections and dwindling ICU capacity. 

Seattle-based pharmacy management company CarepathRx is working to administer bamlanivimab to COVID-19 patients in their homes. 

To do so, CarepathRx is working with one of its Texas-based health system partners. 

“Currently we are announcing availability in Texas. If the program is successful, and we anticipate it will be, we will look for opportunities to roll it out in other cities and states,” explained Keith Crawford, chief commercial officer of CarepathRx.  

The U.S. government is helping distribute bamlanivimab as part of Operation Warp Speed.

CarepathRx vows to continue partnering with hospitals to develop their infusion capabilities to administer current and new drugs in the home. “All drugs tied to COVID that are infusion-related could potentially be administered in the home,” Crawford noted. Remdesivir, the first FDA-approved COVID-19 treatment, is another IV-delivered therapy that could be administered in the home.

“Infusing in the home offers many benefits to the patient and the health systems — the home is a non-communal site so it is safer and more convenient for the patient,” Crawford noted. “For the health system, moving the patient into the home helps with bed capacity and management.”

CarepathRx is not alone in its plans to infusion-based COVID-19 therapies in the home. CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) has also committed to administering bamlanivimab in patients’ homes.

In that pilot program, CVS will administer 1,000 doses of the treatment in seven metropolitan areas across the U.S. over the next three months.