Sweden approves use of new drug for prevention of Covid, Health News, ET HealthWorld
Evusheld has recently been prescribed to individuals who, due to underlying medical conditions, have not developed satisfactory protection against Covid despite being vaccinated, the news agency Xinhua reported with reference to the Swedish Medicines Agency.
The drug will be available to cancer patients treated with cytotoxic drugs, patients on dialysis, those taking immunosuppressive drugs after an organ transplant and those with diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
“Despite the fact that vaccines are available, thousands of people in Sweden have not been able to return to a more normal everyday life and not be able to meet relatives or participate in social events,” says Anna-Lena Engwall, AstraZeneca’s country manager for Nordic and Sweden, in a recent press release.
According to the company, three million immunocompromised people in the EU alone can benefit from the drug.
Evusheld, which is administered as two intramuscular injections, combines two antibodies that bind to the virus’ nail protein, thereby preventing it from entering the cells and multiplying.
A phase III study has shown a 77% reduction in the risk of developing covid symptoms, with protection lasting at least six months.
The company said it was also effective against the highly transmissible BA.2 Omicron sub-variant, which has become the dominant strain in many European countries.
This is also the case in Sweden, where the Swedish Public Health Agency said last week that 93 percent of the sequenced samples were linked to the subvariant.
Sweden has so far confirmed approximately 2.48 million cases of Covid.