According to its own information, Astrazeneca has found drug protection against Corona - this could make the lives of people with previous illnesses much easier.
Oxford - The search for vaccines that work has always been a search for effective drugs.
Both one and the other are important and indispensable building blocks in the fight against the pandemic.
Many drugs have already been examined for their treatment effect against the coronavirus: Remdesivir (originally developed against Ebola), chloroquine (used against malaria), the HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir are just a few examples.
There have not yet been any groundbreaking successes.
The pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca now seems to have found at least one preventive antibody agent against Covid-19 - it would be the first of its kind.
Astrazeneca funds: preventive protection against corona
As reported by the German press agency, the drug AZD7442 from Astrazeneca is said to provide effective protection against corona disease, according to clinical tests. This discovery is a relief, especially for people for whom a vaccination is not suitable or possible for health or other reasons Vaccines to avoid symptomatic and serious illnesses: "We need further approaches for people who are not adequately protected by the corona vaccines".
The drug is currently being tested in a phase III clinical study - there it reduced the risk of symptomatic Covid-19 disease by 77 percent.
While there were three severe courses of Covid and two deaths in the placebo group, the test subjects who received the drug did not become seriously ill with the virus and there were no deaths.
US government secures corona drug from Astrazeneca
The drug is administered through a syringe into the muscle. The difference to a conventional vaccination is the way it works. While the body itself produces antibodies after a vaccination, with AZD7442 these are administered from the outside. The agent is made up of a combination of two long-acting antibodies and is intended to protect against Covid-19 for up to twelve months - also against the particularly contagious Delta variant. In the course of the year, Astrazeneca will present further data from the study in order to apply for drug approval from the authorities in a next step.
The effect of the agent is purely preventive; in an earlier study with test subjects who were already exposed to the virus, the drug could neither protect against Covid-19 nor treat the symptoms. The US government has already secured a delivery of 700,000 cans, having previously been involved in the development of AZD7442.
(leb / dpa / AFP)
