AstraZeneca Releases More Positive Data on COVID-19 Antibody Treatment

AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 antibody cocktail was more than 80% successful at both preventing symptomatic disease and stopping the illness from worsening after six months, demonstrating its ability to provide long-lasting protection. The medicine reduced the risk of developing symptomatic Covid by 83% in one of the trials, after six months follow-up, the company said Thursday. The other, which was on half-year data from outpatient participants with mild-to-moderate illness, found the cocktail reduced the risk of severe disease or death by 88%. The results pointed to better protection than the initial data even as the delta variant surged, a relief for the British drugmaker after a shaky start when its first trial failed to prevent symptomatic disease in people explicitly exposed to the virus. The company applied for U.S. emergency authorization for the product in the prevention setting last month. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The U.K. has started an expedited review of the drug, and the company plans to file for authorization in the European Union shortly. The results indicate the drug can offer “my vulnerable patients with the long-lasting protection they urgently need,” Hugh Montgomery, professor of intensive-care medicine at University College London and principal investigator on the the trial, said in a statement. He pointed to the evidence of lasting protection even as the delta variant surged. Read More: Ahead of Holidays, COVID-19 Cases...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 wire Source Type: news