UK approves COVID-19 antibody Xevudy

Another COVID-19 treatment, Xevudy (sotrovimab), has today been approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after it was found to be safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection who are at an increased risk of developing severe disease.

This follows a rigorous review of its safety, quality and effectiveness by the UK regulator and the government’s independent expert scientific advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines, making it the second monoclonal antibody therapeutic to be approved following Ronapreve, also known elsewhere as REGEN-COV and was developed by Roche (ROG: SIX) and Regneron (Nasdaq: REGN).

Developed by UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Vir Biotechnology (Nasdaq: VIR), sotrovimab is a single monoclonal antibody. The drug works by binding to the spike protein on the outside of the COVID-19 virus. This in turn prevents the virus from attaching to and entering human cells, so that it cannot replicate in the body.