Corona Drug from AstraZeneca Proves Effective to Prevent Symptoms

A Covid drug that British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is working on appears to greatly reduce the risk of developing an asymptomatic form of the disease in vulnerable patients.

 

The company announced this in a press release. In addition, AstraZeneca will file an emergency use application with the health authorities.

The antibody-based drug has not yet been shown to be effective in people who have already been exposed to the virus. But when administered before coming into contact with the virus, the risk of developing symptoms appears to be 77 percent lower than in the control group. AstraZeneca calls the results of the drug, tentatively called AZD7442, “encouraging”.

The company relies on the results of the third phase of testing, which involves a large-scale clinical trial to test effectiveness and risks.

The trials, which were conducted in Spain, France, Belgium, the UK and the US, involved 5,197 participants, 75 percent of whom had underlying conditions.

The new Covid drug “could be an important tool for expanding our arsenal to help people who need more than a vaccine to return to normal life,” said Myron Levin, a professor at the University of Colorado. ), who participated in the study.