Britain’s medicines regulator has approved AstraZeneca’s antibody-based COVID-19 treatment for preventing infections in adults with a poor immune response, marking a major step in the fight against the pandemic as infections surge globally.
Key points:
- The head of UK’s regulatory body says vaccines continue to be the first line of defence but some immunocompromised people need an alternative
- A new treatment contains lab-made antibodies that linger in the body for months
- Some 85 per cent of Britons have already been double-vaccinated
The decision to grant approval for the treatment, Evusheld, was endorsed by the government’s independent scientific advisory body, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Thursday.
Figures showing a global rise in COVID-19 cases could herald a much bigger problem, the World Health Organization said this week, warning nations to remain vigilant.
Although 85 per cent of Britons over the age of 12 years have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, some immunocompromised individuals — or those with a history of severe adverse reactions to a vaccine — may need an alternative preventative.
“While the COVID-19 vaccines continue to be the first-line defence against COVID-19, we know that some people may not respond adequately to these vaccines,’ MHRA chief June Raine said.
Vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells.
Evusheld contains lab-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection.
The therapy was found to cut the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 by 77 per cent in trials, with protection lasting for at least six months after a single dose, the MHRA said.
Evusheld has been also shown to save lives and prevent disease progression when given within a week of first symptoms.
Britain and AstraZeneca currently do not have an agreement for the supply of Evusheld.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said it hoped to see the therapy made available to Britons “as quickly as possible”.
Evusheld is under review in Europe and has been authorised for use in the United States to prevent COVID-19 infections in individuals with weak immune systems or a history of severe side effects from COVID-19 vaccines.
The MHRA said that the treatment, given as an intra-muscular shot, should not be administered to people infected with the COVID-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus or who have had recent exposure to someone with the virus.
However, the regulator has cautioned that there was insufficient data to evaluate fully Evusheld’s effectiveness against the highly contagious Omicron variant, adding that it is liaising with AstraZeneca on that.
In December, AstraZeneca said a lab study had found the treatment retained neutralising activity against Omicron.
Reuters
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