AstraZeneca presented his antibody cocktail to prevent COVID-19 infection for emergency approval in the United States, while therapeutic options to combat the pandemic expand beyond vaccines.
It is the first regulatory presentation of the drug, which demonstrated a 77 percent effectiveness in the prevention of symptomatic COVID in a clinical trial that included patients with high-risk factors for severe infection.
The cocktail can supplement vaccines for people who have not generated a strong immune response to them, or to protect those who could not be immunized. The news comes just days after Merck (MSD) increase optimism that he will soon have the first pill against the coronavirus. Both treatments could offer an easy way to treat many patients before they arrive at the hospital.
“We are one step closer to providing an additional option to help protect against COVID-19 in conjunction with vaccines,” said Mene Pangalos, Astra’s executive vice president for biopharmaceutical research, in a statement.
Discussions about drug supply agreements, called AZD7442, are ongoing with the US Government and others around the world. Antibody drugs are more difficult to mass-produce.
The United States ordered up to 700,000 doses for delivery in 2021, and the value of the contract was partially dependent on the results of a previous trial that failed to demonstrate effectiveness in people explicitly exposed to COVID.
Astra shares showed little variation in London trading.
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