New Covid- 19 antibody therapy authorized for treatment

A second antibody therapy for Covid-19 has been authorised by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency). Xevudy (sotrovimab) is approved for the treatment of non-severe Covid-19 in patients with one or more high risk factors.

The new treatment is a monoclonal antibody that attaches to the virus’s spike protein and stops it from multiplying. One dosage of Xevudy decreased the probability of hospitalisation and mortality in high-risk patients with Covid-19 symptoms by almost 80%.

Xevudy is licenced for anyone above the age of 12 and over 40 kg. The antibody should be taken as quick as is feasible after symptoms begin because it is most effective in the initial stages of the virus.

Xevudy has “demonstrated ongoing activity against all tested variants of concern and interest defined by the World Health Organization”.

Chief Executive Officer of Vir Biotechnology, George Scangos, said that “Sotrovimab was deliberately designed with a mutating virus in mind. By targeting a highly conserved region of the spike protein that is less likely to mutate, we hoped to address both the current SARS-CoV-2 virus and future variants that we expected would be inevitable.