• System helps doctors and patients find locations for COVID-19 outpatient treatment
• Use of monoclonal antibody treatments could help reduce need for hospitalization in high-risk patients

A web-based COVID-19 outpatient treatment locator maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is now available to assist healthcare providers and patients in finding potential locations for treatment with monoclonal antibody therapeutics. These medicines are authorized for emergency use in treating patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of developing severe symptoms and requiring hospitalization.

"We are focused intently on supporting healthcare providers in their efforts to save lives in this pandemic," said Dr. Robert Kadlec, the 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 COIVD-19 care, which in turn reduces the strain on our nation's hospitals and their staff."

To ensure the therapeutic treatments are not in short supply, HHS has agreements in place with Regeneron to purchase approximately 300,000 treatment courses of the company's casirivimab/imdevimab and with Eli Lilly and Company to purchase approximately 3 million treatment courses of the bamlanivimab if needed.

As of January 6, HHS had allocated more than 641,000 patient treatment courses to states and territories which subsequently directed delivery of the medicines to more than 3,700 locations. Approximately 75 percent of the treatment courses allocated to date remain available for use in the authorized patient populations.

The COVID-19 therapeutics distribution page shows locations where these monoclonal antibody therapeutics have been delivered, including the facility name and address and which monoclonal antibody therapeutic has been delivered to the site. Only facilities that are open to the general public are listed. The locator does not include facilities that receive the monoclonal antibody therapeutics for outpatient treatment of specific groups, such as for patients in long-term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, psychiatric facilities, or prisons.

States and territorial health departments must opt in to have information for facilities within their jurisdictions available in the locator. The locator launched with 22 state and territorial health departments opting in, and HHS is encouraging all states and territories to participate.

In November 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency use authorization for two monoclonal antibody therapeutics to treat mild or moderate COVID-19 in high-risk, non-hospitalized patients. Clinical trial data suggests that the treatments may keep COVID-19 symptoms from becoming severe enough to require hospitalization. Anecdotal information from communities also shows fewer hospitalizations among outpatients treated with these monoclonal antibody medicines.

Following emergency use authorization of the monoclonal antibodies, HHS began allocating patient courses to each state and U.S. territory. States and territories can distribute these drugs to a variety of settings: hospitals, alternate care facilities, infusion centers, long-term care facilities, and other outpatient facilities.

In addition to working with state and territory counterparts to make treatment locations easier to find across the country, HHS also is working with healthcare organizations on provider education and patient awareness, and is collaborating with communities to set up temporary infusion centers on medical center grounds as a model. With such efforts, use of the monoclonal antibody therapeutic medicines is increasing nationwide, up from 5-20 percent to 25 percent being used by late December.

About HHS and ASPR

HHS works to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans, providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. The mission of ASPR is to save lives and protect Americans from 21st century health security threats. To learn more about federal support for the all-of-America COVID-19 response, visit coronavirus.gov.