An antibody cocktail developed by AstraZeneca has been shown to cut the risk of death or severe illness by 50 per cent, in a study of non-hospitalised patients who had symptoms for seven days or less, the company said on Monday.
The cocktail, which has earlier been proven to work as a preventative shot in the non-infected, is a combination of two antibodies called AZD7442.
The cocktail showed better risk reduction in patients who began therapy within five days of initial symptoms. AstraZeneca executive Mene Pangalos told the media that the treatment results underscored its potential future use as non-vaccine prevention.
“If and when this is approved it will be used in the treatment setting as well. But the real differentiator for this antibody is going to be in the prophylactic setting," he said.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker that developed one of the first COVID-19 vaccines, had earlier asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorise the emergency use of its antibody treatment.
The company on October 5 said its AZD7442 treatment would be the first long-acting antibody combination to receive an emergency use authorization for COVID-19 prevention. The treatment may help protect people whose immune systems don't respond adequately to vaccination, AstraZeneca said.
Late-stage human trials showed that AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 by 77%. More than three-quarters of the participants had suppressed immune systems and other conditions that made them more susceptible to severe disease.
Vulnerable populations such as the immunocompromised often aren't able to mount a protective response following vaccination and continue to be at risk of developing COVID-19, Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca's executive vice president for pharmaceutical research, said in a statement. With this first global regulatory filing, we are one step closer to providing an additional option to help protect against COVID-19 alongside vaccines."
U.S. demand for antibody treatments soared over the summer, particularly in states like Florida, Louisiana and Texas, where hospitalisations among unvaccinated patients threatened to overwhelm the health care system.
The drugs are laboratory-made versions of virus-blocking antibodies that help fight off infections. The treatments help the patient by supplying concentrated doses of one or two antibodies.
The main antibody treatment being used in the U.S. is Regeneron's dual-antibody cocktail. The FDA has also authorized the Regeneron product as protection for high-risk people against severe COVID-19.
Merck on Monday requested emergency authorisation for its molnupiravir experimental pill to treat mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19. The company said the drug was shown to reduce coronavirus hospitalisations by 50 per cent in early trials.
With inputs from PTI
