AstraZeneca’s antibody therapy prevents COVID-19, study shows
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Trial data from AstraZeneca on Friday raised the prospect of a new treatment to prevent COVID-19 beyond vaccines, giving hope in particular for people who respond poorly to immunisation shots.
The British drugmaker said its new antibody therapy reduced the risk of people developing any COVID-19 symptoms by 77% in a late-stage trial.
While vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop an arsenal of targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, AstraZeneca’s AZD7442 therapy consists of lab-made antibodies that are designed to linger in the body for months to stifle the coronavirus in case of an infection.
The company said that 75% of the participants in the trial for the therapy – which comprises two types of antibodies discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the United States – had chronic conditions including some with a lower immune response to vaccinations.
Similar therapies made with a drug class called monoclonal antibodies are being developed by Regeneron, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline with partner Vir, competing for a role in COVID treatment and prevention.
But AstraZeneca is first to publish positive prevention trial data in the field and is now targeting conditional approval in major markets well before the end of the year, aiming to produce roughly 1 to 2 million doses by then.
Penny Ward, Visiting Professor in Pharmaceutical Medicine at Kings College in London, said the news bode well for people who have responded poorly to vaccination or who must take immune-suppressants for post-transplant, autoimmune disease and other conditions.
“It could potentially be game changing for these individuals, who are currently being advised to continue to shield despite being fully vaccinated,” she said.
The good news on the therapy was tempered, however, by a separate AstraZeneca statement on Friday.
It said a trial of a treatment for the rare neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), developed by AstraZeneca’s newly acquired Alexion, had been stopped early due to a lack of efficacy. read more
