Sisters woman grateful for successful experience with new COVID-19 treatment

St. Charles expanding availability of monoclonal antibody therapy; OHA says it's available by injection, as well as IV

(Update: Adding video, new info, comments from patient, St. Charles doctor)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- After promising results from St. Charles' new COVID-19 therapy treatment, the health system is looking to expand to more sites across Central Oregon. One of the local beneficiaries of the treatment tells us she is thankful for the protection.

St. Charles introduced the monoclonal antibody therapy in early July as a way to help people with mild to moderate COVID-19 fight off the disease and, hopefully, avoid hospitalization.

The hospital system has treated 50 people with this therapy so far. One of those people was long-time Sisters resident Marilyn Cornelius.

The 55-year-old has rheumatoid arthritis, an auto-immune disease. Because of that, and because she's a patient services representative in the health care industry, she was able to get the COVID-19 vaccine in February. However, on August 16, Cornelius tested positive for the virus.

"I had one pretty bad night, it was pretty scary, with the shortness of breath, with the trying to catch my breath. I kept thinking, 'Wow, this would be really scary if, A, I hadn't been vaccinated, and, B, I didn't know this treatment was on the horizon for me.'"

Dr. Cynthis Maree, the medical director of infection prevention at St. Charles, called monoclonal antibody therapy "really fascinating."

"Monoclonal antibodies, they are not human-derived," she said. "This is made in a laboratory. It blocks the uptake of the virus into the host cell."

According to the St. Charles website, the treatment uses monoclonal antibodies to "mimic the immune system’s natural antibodies, which fight back against harmful antigens such as viruses. Whereas the body takes time to produce natural antibodies, monoclonal antibody treatment allows a sick person to fight the virus earlier, which may prevent them from getting sicker and needing to be hospitalized."

Right now, it's only offered through St. Charles in Bend and Redmond. However, the health system is hoping to expand operations to other care facilities in the region, like High Lakes Health Care and Mosaic Medical.

Before Thursday, the therapy had only been administered intravenously (through an IV) and takes about two and a half hours. It does have an emergency use authorization from the FDA, but not everyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is eligible for the treatment.

Currently, monoclonal antibody treatment is only available to people who are at high risk of becoming severely ill from COVID-19, and they cannot self-refer themselves for the treatment. A physician must make the referral, and infusion would ideally be administered within three days of a positive COVID-19 test or within 10 days of symptom onset.

That was the case for Cornelius, who spoke to NewsChannel 21 from her room over Zoom Thursday on her 10th and final day of quarantine. She said she was skeptical in the beginning, but the therapy was worth it in the end.

"Yeah, it was a little bit scary to think of it at first -- this is being infused into your body, into your bloodstream," Cornelius said. "But I had to have faith and go forward. Again, positive knowing that it was going to work, and it did. I'm telling you, it really made a difference."

In a community statement released Thursday, St. Charles CEO Joe Sluka said, "Our experience with this therapy so far has been very encouraging in keeping COVID-positive patients from needing hospitalization."

Of the 50 people St. Charles has assisted through monoclonal antibody therapy, only one person was hospitalized after treatment. Maree said that person was seen after the 10-day window, which is likely why they had to be admitted.

St. Charles was not only hoping to expand locations for this therapy, but also the way it's administered. Right on cue, the Oregon Health Authority announced Thursday evening the treatment is now available subcutaneously through an injection, in addition to the IV.

Here's the full OHA press release:

Monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 now available by injection

Getting diagnosed with COVID-19 can be scary. However, in addition to the safe and effective vaccines we have in the US, we now have more treatments available that can reduce the severity of COVID-19 in those who have become infected.

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatments have the potential to save lives, keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital and relieve the current burden on Oregon’s health care system. The treatment is now available in both subcutaneous (an injection) and intravenous (IV) form.

One monoclonal antibody treatment is currently available in Oregon through Health and Human Services (HHS) for free and has proven to be effective against the Delta variant.

People ages 12 and older, who weigh at least 88 lbs. and meet the following requirements may be eligible for mAb treatment:

• Have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Are experiencing mild or moderate symptoms of COVID-19.
• Had first symptoms within the last 10 days.
• Are considered high risk for going into the hospital because of age, weight, pregnancy, immunosuppressive disease or treatment for some other chronic disease. See the full list.

To learn more about mAb treatment, read the full story on Oregon Vaccine News.