EU backs AstraZeneca drug for Covid treatment

(FILES) A general view taken on February 8, 2022, shows the AstraZeneca facility for biological medicines in Södertälje, south of Stockholm, Sweden. – AstraZeneca’s new facility in Sweden located in Södertälje was inaugurated last December and is dedicated to the production of next generation biological drugs such as Evusheld, a Covid-19 preventative monoclonal antibody treatment for immunocompromised people.  (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – AstraZeneca’s Evusheld drug has been recommended for marketing in the European Union to treat patients at risk of death from Covid, the British pharmaceutical group said Friday.

The EU’s drug watchdog had already approved Evusheld for the prevention of coronavirus in such patients.

“Evusheld long-acting antibody combination” has been “recommended for approval in the EU for the treatment of Covid-19”, AstraZeneca said in a statement.

Its use via injection is recommended for adults and children aged 12 and above “who are at increased risk of progressing to severe Covid‑19”, it added.

The European Medicines Agency’s latest Evusheld recommendation followed trials showing “significant protection against progression to severe Covid-19 or death”.

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