Already authorized as a preventive therapy against Covid-19 in the European Union, AstraZeneca’s Evusheld antibody cocktail has received a recommendation for authorization as a treatment for people already infected and at risk of a severe form of the disease. sickness.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has recommended marketing authorization in the European Union of Evusheld for “the treatment of adults and adolescents (aged 12 years and more weighing at least 40 kg) suffering from Covid? 19 “, according to a press release from the pharmaceutical group published this Friday.
Already effective in preventive treatment
The recommendation concerns patients “who do not need additional oxygen and who present an increased risk of progression to a serious form”, specifies AstraZeneca.
The antibody cocktail had been authorized in March for prevention, that is to say before potential exposure to the virus, and it is “already available in the majority of European countries”.
According to a phase III study on which the CHMP relied, Evusheld offers “significant protection against progression to a serious form or death” and it is all the more effective the earlier the treatment takes place.
Waiting for an agreement from the European Commission
Evusheld combines two types of synthetic antibodies (tixagevimab and cilgavimab) that help the immune system fight the virus by targeting its Spike protein, which allows it to enter cells to infect them.
Evusheld is also authorized for preventive purposes in the United States (emergency use) or in Japan. Tokyo has also approved it for the treatment of people with risk factors for serious infection.
The European Commission has yet to give its approval for a marketing authorization for the use of Evusheld in the treatment of infected persons.