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New COVID-19 drug promises better prevention, treatment: AstraZeneca
Phase-three clinical trials conducted by AstraZeneca suggest that a single dose of the antibody combination AZD7442 (commercially called Evusheld) is 83 percent effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in people over the age of 18 and could offer protection more than six months after administration.
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Phase-three clinical trials conducted by AstraZeneca suggest that a single dose of the antibody combination AZD7442 (commercially called Evusheld) is 83 percent effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in people over the age of 18 and could offer protection more than six months after administration. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
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new antibody cocktail produced by British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has shown robust efficacy in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, especially for people at high risk of developing severe symptoms, phase three clinical trials showed last week.
The findings suggest that a single-dose injection of the antibody combination AZD7442 (commercially called Evusheld) is 83 percent effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in people over the age of 18 and could offer protection more than six months after administration.
A higher dose AZD7442 could also reduce the risk of severe illness or death from the coronavirus by 88 percent for COVID-19 patients if given within three days of the onset of symptoms.
The principal investigator of AZD7442, Hugh Montgomery, said the drug could provide some hope for normalcy for people who would not respond well to COVID-19 vaccines.
“These compelling results give me confidence that this long-acting antibody combination can provide [...] vulnerable patients the long-lasting protection they urgently need to finally return to their everyday lives," he said in a written statement last week.
According to the company, about 2 percent of the global population is at a higher risk of developing life-threatening COVID-19 symptoms because of an inadequate response to COVID-19 vaccines.
This includes people who have autoimmune diseases, are undergoing chemotherapy, are on dialysis or people who take immunosuppressive drugs, such as organ transplant recipients.
