UPDATE 1-Regeneron quarterly profit surges on COVID-19 antibody cocktail demand

(Adds background, COVID therapy sales)

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc reported a more than tripling of its quarterly profit on Thursday, buoyed by robust demand for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail.

The antibody therapy, REGEN-COV, has been authorized in the United States for treating non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and the company has signed supply agreements with the U.S. government worth millions.

Regeneron in May said it expects sustained demand for the therapy even in the face of mass vaccine rollouts in the United States.

The company posted U.S. sales of $2.59 billion in the quarter for REGEN-COV, accounting for more than half of its total U.S. net product revenue. Regeneron recorded U.S. REGEN-COV sales of $262.2 million in the first quarter. In June, the U.S. health regulator authorized a lower dose of the antibody cocktail that can be given via an injection.

Net profit rose to $3.1 billion, or $27.97 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $897.3 million, or $7.61 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Dania Nadeem and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)