UK buys 100,000 doses of GSK's experimental Covid drug
The Government has bought a new Covid antibody treatment from GlaxoSmithKline to help patients with the virus and bolster Britain's arsenal if mutations make vaccines ineffective.
The Department for Health and Social Care has bought 100,000 doses of the treatment, called sotrovimab, which has yet to be approved by UK regulators but has been given the green light in the US, the EU and Japan.
The Government said there was a "critical, urgent need to procure and deploy a new class of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that can neutralise any Covid-19 variant".
It said the need for antibodies and other therapeutics had always been under consideration. However, "the mutation of the virus and the risk this poses on antibody and vaccine efficacy has only recently been properly identified and still requires further academic studies".
The WHO has identified four Covid variants of concern. However, scientists have warned that high transmission of the virus could lead to more dangerous mutations, including those that evade vaccines.
The GSK treatment could also be used to protect a "cohort of the population who, for medical reasons, cannot mount an appropriate immune response to vaccination or, for whatever reason, do not get vaccinated and are also at higher risk of hospitalisation or death".
The UK has already started rolling out an antibody cocktail to treat Covid called Ronapreve that was co-developed by Roche and Regeneron.
Last month, the NHS said it would start offering patients the treatment, which is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies. Ronapreve is the only antibody treatment to have received approval from the MHRA.
Sotrovimab is under review by UK regulators. It is not known how much the Government paid for the drug. The deal is subject to approval.
GlaxoSmithKline's Amanda Peppercorn said: “We are facing a situation where the world may well have to live with Covid-19 for some time and the reality is that many may continue to be at risk. It is vitally important that, alongside vaccines, we have treatments available that can help stop progression to severe disease in patients at high risk from the infection."
She said as the world moved into the endemic phase, vaccines and treatments would need to work in a complementary fashion. A recent trial suggested sotrovimab reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death for high-risk people with mild to moderate Covid-19 by 79pc.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This latest deal further reflects the UK’s fantastic track record for finding the world’s best Covid-19 treatments – for example, dexamethasone, which has saved tens of thousands of lives in England alone.
“We’ve signed the contract for this novel and promising Covid-19 treatment to strengthen our armoury of therapeutics and to ensure it can be rolled out to patients as quickly as possible, should it be approved by our medicines regulator.
“While the vaccination programme continues to protect millions, it’s vital we keep securing the most cutting-edge treatments for this disease to protect as many people as possible for years to come.”
