The World Health Organization has recommended against the use of two antibody treatments for coronavirus, on the grounds that they are likely no longer effective with the 'Omicron' mutated strain of the virus and its latest sub-mutants.
Recommendation details
• The two treatments, designed to work by binding to the virus's skeletal protein to neutralize its ability to infect cells, were among the first drugs developed early in the pandemic.
• But the virus has evolved since then, and increasing evidence from laboratory tests indicates that the efficacy of the two treatments "sutrovimab" and "cacerifimab-imdivimab", is limited in the face of the latest mutations of the virus.
• As a result, the US health regulator has also excluded them.
• On Thursday, WHO experts said that they strongly advised not to use them to treat people with "Covid 19", in a retreat from previous conditional recommendations, as part of a set of new recommendations published by the British Medical Journal.
American decisions
The US Food and Drug Administration pulled sutrovimab, which is produced by GlaxoSmithKline and its partner Fair Biotechnology, from the local market in April. The drug achieved billions in sales, and became one of the best-selling drugs produced by British companies last year.
The antibody combination cacerifimab-imdivimab, produced by Regeneron and its partner Roche, also generated billions in sales and was one of the best-selling drugs from US companies last year. The FDA revised its position on the treatment in January, limiting its use to a smaller group of patients, citing its diminishing potency against the 'Omicron' mutant. The European Medicines Regulatory Authority still recommends both treatments.
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