On October 11, AstraZeneca met the primary endpoint of their antibody combination that can be used to treat and prevent COVID-19. They have discovered that receiving an intramuscular injection of AZD7442 within five days of having COVID-19 symptoms can reduce the risk of dying by 50%.
Currently, the AstraZeneca lab is the only lab that has made a vaccine with Phase 3 data that has shown to be preventative against COVID-19. The trial for the vaccine has been conducted in 96 different sites around the world and has seen a significant effect in COVID-19 patients.
In the study, 13% of the patients were over the age of 65, and 90% were at high risk of receiving COVID-19 due to being immunocompromised. By the end of the primary phase of the study, researchers saw that individuals that had received the vaccine were at a lower risk of dying from COVID-19 once they had contracted it.
“With continued cases of serious COVID-19 infections across the globe, there is a significant need for new therapies like AZD7442,” said Professor Hugh Montgomery from the ICU at University College of London. “These positive results show that a convenient intramuscular dose of AZD7442 could play an important role in helping combat this devastating pandemic.”
On October 5, AstraZeneca submitted a request to the FDA for the approval of AZD7442 for emergency use. In the following months, the company hopes to see lives improved by the research done on this vaccine.