The Ministry of Health and the AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Company have formalized an agreement for the supply and distribution of Evusheld, a drug that combines two long-acting monoclonal antibodies (TIXAGEVIMAB and CILGAVIMAB) and is indicated "for passive immunization of patients with more High risk of contracting Covid-19 and evolve to severe forms of the disease. "
This drug is indicated as prophylaxis prexes, that is, as a measure to prevent the infection and the risk of developing complications in people whose immune system does not work properly (immunocompromised people).
This lack of competence of the immune system can occur in patients with immunodeficiencies, transplanted of solid organs or persons treated by hematological neoplasms with medicines that inhibit their ability to generate immunity against antigen injected with vaccines.
"It is a medication aimed at a specific and determined collective, to immunosuppressed people. It will allow those people who have inoculated vaccine doses and do not achieve a level of antibodies and important protection, with this medicine, which acts as a Species of previous prophylaxis, it will allow you to be people at a given time have is protection, "said Minister Carolina Darias after the signing act of the Agreement, reports Europa Press.
As he has pointed out healing in a statement, Evusheld is currently "the only medication pursued by an indication of pre-exposure prophylaxis".
The drug, also called AZD7442, is a combination of Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab, two monoclonal antibodies designed to recognize and adhere to different parts of the SARS-COV-2 protein, the key that employs the virus to penetrate the cells. Its objective, therefore, is to neutralize the pathogen and prevent it from entering the cells, replicating and causing an infection.
The monoclonal antibodies that make up the drug have been derived from B lymphocytes from convalescent patients by infection with SARS-COV-2 and mimic the function that would carry out the natural immune response.
According to AstraZeneca data, in the prevention test in phase III Provent (n = 5197), a dose intramuscular (IM) of AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic VOCID-19 by 77% versus the results with placebo in the Main analysis, and by 83% after an average of six months of follow-up, which demonstrates lasting protection. It has also been tested, according to the company's data, its effectiveness against the omicron variant.
The drug has not yet been authorized in the European Union. The European Medicine Agency (EMA) is currently doing a continuous evaluation process (Rolling Review); A mechanism that, in cases of emergency, allows to accelerate the evaluation periods without imposing quality, safety and effectiveness guarantees. The process began on October 14. Until the EMA pronounces in this regard, healing and Astrazeneca have signed a temporary agreement of use that will allow the supply of the drug as an emergency basis, as detailed astrazeneca in a statement.
The medication already has the approval of the American Medicine Agency (FDA) for its use in prophylaxis prior to exposure aimed at vulnerable populations.
The Ministry and the pharmaceutical company have agreed on the acquisition of 30,000 doses of the Evusheld drug, which will be available throughout the month of February, reports EFE.
Date Of Update: 05 February 2022, 10:18
