New COVID-19 drug Sotrovimab becomes available on NHS
pharmafile | December 20, 2021 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
Sotrovimab, commercially known as Xevudy, is now available on the NHS to reduce the risk of vulnerable patients needing hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19 infection. Xevudy is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Vir Biotechnology, Inc.
Approximately 1.3 million of the highest risk NHS patients will now be eligible to receive sotrovimab, as well as other new COVID-19 treatments, as they become available.
The drug is an investigational SARS-CoV-2 neutralising monoclonal antibody. The antibody binds to an epitope on SARS-CoV-2, shared with SARS-CoV-1 (the virus that causes SARS), indicating that the epitope is highly conserved, making it more difficult for resistance to develop.
Sotrovimab is given as a transfusion to transplant recipients, cancer patients, and other high-risk groups. If given quickly after symptoms of infection develop, it should help prevent these people from severe illness requiring hospital treatment.
On 17 December, sotrovimab received marketing authorisation from the European Commission (EC), based on data from the COMET-ICE Phase III trial. These results demonstrated that intravenous treatment with sotrovimab resulted in a 79% reduction (adjusted relative risk reduction) in all-cause hospitalisations, for more than 24 hours or death due to any cause by Day 29 compared to placebo – thus meeting the primary endpoint of the study.
Outside of the UK and EU, Sotrovimab is authorised for emergency use in the US, and has provisional marketing authorisation in Australia as well as conditional marketing authorisation in Saudi Arabia. It has also been approved via Japan’s Special Approval for Emergency Pathway. Temporary authorisations for sotrovimab have also been granted in 12 other countries.
Lina Adams
