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Dr Catherine Hollihan, a virologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) who is leading a study called Storm Chaser on the drug, said, “If we can prove that this treatment works and prevents people who are exposed to the virus from continuing to develop Covid-19, it would be an addition. Exciting for the arsenal of weapons being developed to fight this terrible virus. “
The drug has been developed by UCLH and AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that also made alongside the University of Oxford, a vaccine that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is expected to approve for use in Britain next week.
The team hopes that the experiment will show that the antibody mixture protects against the Covid-19 virus for a period of between six and 12 months, the participants in the experiment receive two doses one after the other, if approved, it will be presented to a person exposed to Covid in the previous eight days. .
It could be available as soon as possible in March or April if approved by the drug regulator after it reviewed the evidence from the study, the experience includes UCLA and several other British hospitals and a network of 100 locations worldwide, became a hospital University College this month is the first site in the world to recruit patients for a randomized control trial and give them a dose or placebo.
“So far, we have injected 10 employee participants, students and other people who have been exposed to the virus at home, in healthcare settings, or in student halls,” said Houlihan. She and her colleagues will closely follow the participants to see which of them has contracted Covid-19.
The immediate protection that the drug promises can play a vital role in limiting the impact of the virus until everyone is immunized, the Pfizer / BioNTech injection program is being implemented and is expected to last until next summer.
NHS England rushed to release the vaccine this week after criticism from hospital heads, GP leaders and former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt that it was taking too long.
“The advantage of this drug is that it gives you instant antibodies,” said Houlihan. “We can say to the trial participants who have been exposed to the virus: Yes, you can get the vaccine, but we will not tell them what will protect them from disease, because it is too late by that time. [لأن لقاحي Pfizer و Oxford لا يمنحان مناعة كاملة لمدة شهر تقريبًا].
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia who specializes in infectious diseases, said that the new treatment could significantly reduce the number of deaths from Covid.
“If you are dealing with outbreaks in places like care homes, or if you have patients who are particularly at risk of contracting severe Covid virus, such as the elderly, then this can save many lives. By demonstrating this in Phase 3 trials,” It can play a big role in preserving neighborhoods who would otherwise die, so it has to be a big thing, ”he said if you have a nursing home outbreak, you might want to use these types of antibody cocktails to get the outbreak under control ASAP By giving medication to everyone in the residential care home and staff who have not.
The medicine contains a group of long-acting antibody known as AZD7442, which was developed by AstraZeneca. Instead of antibodies produced by the body to help fight infection, AZD7442 uses a monoclonal antibody, which was created in the laboratory.
Dr Nikki Longley, an infectious disease consultant at the University of California, Los Angeles, who is leading the second study, said: “We will be recruiting people who are older or in long-term care, and who have conditions like cancer and HIV that may affect the capacity of the system. They have immunity to respond to the vaccine, we want to reassure anyone that the vaccine may not work for them that we can offer an alternative with the same protection. “
Dr Richard Jarvis, co-chair of the British Medical Association’s Public Health Medicine Committee, said: ‘For the vast majority of the population, vaccination provides the best protection against Covid-19, and NHS staff are working around the clock to manage this for as many patients at risk as possible in this wave. First.
“It will certainly be interesting to see if these trials are effective, but it is important that any new treatments undergo careful research and scrutiny and most importantly, they are safe before we think about offering them.”
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