AstraZeneca's Covid prevention drug meets primary goals in late-stage study

AstraZeneca's investigational Covid-19 prevention therapy met its primary goals in a late-stage trial, the drugmaker said on Thursday.

The investigational long-acting antibody therapy called sipavibart showed a "statistically significant reduction" in symptomatic Covid-19 cases in an immunocompromised patient population, the company said.

AstraZeneca withdrew its Covid-19 vaccine last week, citing a "surplus of available updated vaccines" since the pandemic.

Immunocompromised patients include those with blood cancer, organ transplant recipients, patients with end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis, patients receiving B-cell depleting therapy within the past year, and those taking immunosuppressive medications, the company noted.

These patients make up about 25 per cent of Covid-19 hospitalisations, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions, and deaths, even after multiple doses of Covid-19 vaccines, according to the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker.