The debate on vaccine inequalities is reignited: in the United States, a treatment for patients with Covid-19 – in the barbaric name of bebtelovimab – has so far been reserved for the local market. Still at the experimental stage, it was urgently authorized because of its positive results. But European caregivers and patients are pushing to distribute it, while therapeutic alternatives are reduced in the face of new variants of the virus.
He is not the only one to sound the alarm, but the Scientific Council, created in March 2020 to fight against Covid, has just asked the French government, in its final opinion published on Wednesday, “to do everything possible so that the to bebtelovimabthe only monoclonal antibody currently active on BA.5, which is the fastest available in France”.
What is it about? the to bebtelovimab is an experimental monoclonal antibody, i.e. not yet officially marketed. In March, however, the US health authorities granted it so-called emergency authorization, after positive results from a clinical study in patients with mild to moderate symptoms of Covid.
“The to bebtelovimab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the protein particularly well spike mutated from the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron,” Professor Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva, told AFP. of the only ones remaining in the panoply of potential treatments, most of the antibodies used since the start of the pandemic having subsequently proved to be less effective against Omicron variants.
“It is indicated for patients who are particularly vulnerable and at very high risk of severe complications from Covid-19, in particular immunocompromised patients due to their disease or their immunosuppressive treatments”, adds Antoine Flahault. Problem: the Eli Lilly laboratory only offers it to American patients. The US government placed an initial order for 600,000 doses in February, before ordering 150,000 additional doses at the end of June.
Vaccine inequalities
“The company maintains ongoing and open communication with health authorities around the world to understand the local need for this antibody, the to bebtelovimabwhich remains experimental for the time being”, replies Eli Lilly, contacted by AFP. However, “in Europe, with regard to the available data considered to be preliminary (…), the Lilly group does not plan to set up a phase III clinical trial, nor the availability of the to bebtelovimab in the context of a clinical trial, nor in the long term the submission of a request for marketing authorization for this product, “she adds, without giving reasons.
A position that does not pass, while the seventh wave of the Covid pandemic continues to claim victims. “This medicine can save lives, it is not a comfort medicine. Consideration should be given to making it a global public good in order to make it available to very vulnerable patients who could benefit from it around the world”, so argues Professor Flahault. For their part, researchers from the French Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS) have launched a plea for obtaining doses of to bebtelovimab for the most vulnerable patients.
Faced with vaccine inequalities, declarations for more solidarity have multiplied in recent months. The International Medicines Federation, Ifpma, notably called on rich countries on Tuesday to promote a more equitable distribution of vaccines and treatments in the event of new pandemics. However, the same causes seem to produce the same effects: when a drug is only available in limited quantities, by a single producer, the first served are often the inhabitants of the manufacturer’s country.
“This drug is the one that retains the best efficacy on BA.5. What are our European health authorities waiting for for an automatic license to guarantee access to immunocompromised patients who need it?”, asks on Twitter the association of dialysis and kidney failure Renaloo. In general, the prescription of monoclonal antibodies has been low until now, regrets in its latest opinion the Scientific Council. Thus, in mid-May, between 10,000 and 20,000 requests had been accepted for monoclonal antibodies in France. Between 50,000 and 300,000 immunocompromised patients would however be eligible.
With AFP
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