AstraZeneca drug reduced risk of developing COVID-19 in population at risk by 83%

An experimental treatment consisting of the AZD7442 antibody combination, developed by AstraZeneca, reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 by 83% in “high-risk” people, experts revealed.

According to AstraZeneca, around 2% of the global population considers itself to be “risk of providing an inadequate response to the COVID-19 vaccine″, Such as patients with blood or other cancers treated with chemotherapy, dialysis patients or others taking medications after a transplant, for example.

In a conference presented by Pascal Soriot, the CEO of the British pharmaceutical company, several experts threw up data extracted from the latest tests carried out with two human monoclonal antibodies that are currently being investigated as a treatment for the disease.

Two phase III clinical trials on prevention and treatment of COVID-19 showed a “robust efficiency“By delivering a one-time intramuscular dose of the LAB long-acting antibody combination, AsraZeneca said in a statement.

A separate trial concurrently revealed an 88% reduction in risk of severe COVID-19 or death within three days of receiving treatment.

At the virtual meeting, Hugh Montgomery, professor of Internal Medicine at University College London and principal investigator in the tests, was “very excited” about the results that “show that this antibody-based treatment works well and that its impact is sustains during the six months of the analysis ”.

“The good news is that (this treatment) also prevents (contracting) serious illness or death.”He added.

In the analysis, 903 adult patients were followed for a period of half a year, in which the research team detected that a dose of 300 milligrams of AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 by 83% compared to treatment with placebo.

Experts did not detect severe COVID-19 cases or death related to the virus in patients treated with AZD7442 during a primary analysis or during the most recent six-month period.

In those suffering from mild to moderate COVID-19, a 600-milligram dose of AZD7442 was seen to reduce the risk of developing severe symptoms or death by 88% compared to placebo patients who had been symptomatic. three days of receiving treatment.

The experts also found that AZD7442 “It was generally well tolerated.”

Montgomery noted that the results of this antibody combination “they will provide the most vulnerable patients with the protection they urgently need to get their lives back ”.

In clinical trials, they observed, he said, “six months of protection – despite the Delta variant – among the highest-risk patients who may not respond adequately to the vaccine”.

For his part, Mene Pangalos, Vice President of AstraZeneca, highlighted that AZD7442 is the only long-acting antibody that demonstrates “the benefits of both pre-exposure prophylaxis and single-dose COVID-19 treatment ”.

With these results it will be possible to perform “a significant difference in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19″.