Important news coming on the front of the fight against Covid. In this case they come from AstraZeneca, one of the pharmaceutical companies that has developed a vaccine, which however proved to be a little less effective than those of Pfizer and Moderna, so much so that Italy has chosen not to buy any more, preferring for the third dose the two American serums, even for those who have so far been immunized with the Anglo-Swedish drug. But now there is a new frontier: the antibody therapy, through the new drug AZD7442 for which AstraZeneca has applied for emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. If approved, the drug company claims AZD7442 would be the first long-acting antibody to receive emergency approval for Covid-19 prophylaxis.
Data from a Phase 3 study showed a 77% risk reduction to develop symptomatic Covid-19 disease with a combination of long-acting antibodies. Therefore a very effective protection and distributed over a very long period of time. “As with other diseases, we need more options to address this challenge and, moreover, not even adequate vaccination coverage will be able to fully combat the disease,” AstraZeneca writes in a statement. Monoclonal antibodies mimic natural antibodies and have the potential to treat and prevent disease progression in patients already infected with the virus, as well as being used as a potential preventative approach prior to exposure to the virus.
“A combination of monoclonal antibodies – writes AZ again – could be complementary to the vaccine as a prophylactic agent, for example for those people for whom a vaccine may not be appropriate or to provide additional protection for high-risk populations. It could also be used to treat people who have been infected. We are moving fast with our clinical trials, following rigorous regulatory standards and good clinical practice, guided by robust independent data safety committees and ongoing monitoring. Given the unprecedented global impact of COVID-19 and the need for public information, we are committed to transparency throughout this development process."
