One of the biggest breakthroughs the pharmaceutical industry has made was the Covid-19 vaccine. Its development was achieved in record time and has been the key to preventing millions of deaths around the world. To date there are several available and although none is perfect, all of them work to reduce the probability of suffering from serious pictures of this new disease.
However, an issue that remains pending is developing drugs that prevent infection or at least help the recovery of those who have already contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus. So far there are some that were created for other diseases but have been shown to work against Covid-19. In the case of Mexico, the Ministry of Health (SSa) It only recommends five options because they are the only ones that have been shown to work properly.
New preventive alternative
While now AstraZeneca has surprised by presenting the preliminary results of a new antibody therapy. As reported Reuters, based on what was observed in an end-stage clinical study, reduced people’s risk of developing Covid-19 symptoms by 77 percent. With this, the pharmaceutical company is in the process of offering protection to those who might have weak responses to vaccines.
AstraZeneca added that 75 percent of the participants in the treatment trial – two types of antibodies discovered by Valderbilt University Medical Center – had underlying conditions, including low immune response to vaccines.
Similar therapies developed with monoclonal antibody drugs, designed to mimic the reinforcing responses of the immune system, are being developed by Regeneron, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline with their partner Vir.
The most important thing here is that it is the first company to achieve positive results in Covid-19 prevention studies during antibody therapy.
AstraZeneca executive Mene Pangalos said that the results of the therapy trial were taken three months after the antibodies were injected and that the researchers would follow up for up to 15 months in hopes that the company can promote the vaccine within one year.
Option to improve vaccine protection
Pangalos noted that the prospects for a new Covid-19 product in AstraZeneca’s drug portfolio could also enhance the strategic value of its existing Vaxzevria vaccine, which it developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford. He also said that no other company has delivered two molecules against SARS-CoV2.
For now, it is worth remembering that currently AstraZeneca’s vaccine is the most widely used in the world. So far it has been authorized in 184 countries, so it is well above Pfizer (112) and Moderna (66), which are the other pharmaceutical companies that top the list.