Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines approved for booster scheme
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The group’s treatment, known as AZD7442, is a combination of two antibodies and has been undergoing final clinical trials.
AstraZeneca has announced it achieved a “statistically significant reduction in severe COVID-19 or death” in non-hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.
The trial involved 903 participants and 90 percent of them were people at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19.
Principal trial investigator Hugh Montgomery said: “With continued cases of serious COVID-19 infections across the globe, there is a significant need for new therapies like AZD7442 that can be used to protect vulnerable populations and can also help prevent progression to severe disease.
“These positive results show that a convenient intramuscular dose of AZD7442 could play an important role in helping combat this devastating pandemic.”
AZD7442 is a combination of tixagevimab (AZD8895) and cilgavimab (AZD1061) – derived from B-cells donated by convalescent patients after contracting the virus.
In August 2021, AstraZeneca announced AZD7442 had demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 in a trial.
On October 5, the company announced it had submitted a request to the US Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use Authorisation for AZD7442.
Now it will discuss the data with more health authorities.
Principal trial investigator Hugh Montgomery said: “With continued cases of serious COVID-19 infections across the globe, there is a significant need for new therapies like AZD7442 that can be used to protect vulnerable populations and can also help prevent progression to severe disease.
“These positive results show that a convenient intramuscular dose of AZD7442 could play an important role in helping combat this devastating pandemic.”
The study found that a single dose of 600mg of AZD7442 given by injection managed to reduce the risk of developing severe Covid or death by 50 percent.
Mene Pangalos, executive vice president for biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, said: “These important results for AZD7442, our long-acting antibody combination, add to the growing body of evidence for use of this therapy in both prevention and treatment of Covid-19.
“An early intervention with our antibody can give a significant reduction in progression to severe disease, with continued protection for more than six months.”
The treatment has been earmarked for those who cannot have a regular vaccination, who respond poorly to jabs, or whose health conditions put them at particular risk of serious illness.
Full results from the trial will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
It comes after a separate study on the treatment published in August showed there were no cases of severe Covid or coronavirus-related deaths in those treated with AZD7442.
The study of more than 5,000 adults found AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 by 77% compared with a placebo.
More than 75% of people in that trial had health issues which put them at increased risk of severe disease or they had a reduced immune response to vaccination.
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