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The experimental jab is offered to people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the last eight days.
Photo: KTS / Science Photo Library via AFP
If effective, it could protect vulnerable people who have not yet been vaccinated or cannot.
And it could help contain breakouts.
The trial, conducted at the NHS Trust at University College London Hospitals (UCLH), is looking at whether an injection of two different antibodies could prevent someone who has been exposed to Covid from developing the disease, or at least getting seriously ill.
Vaccines take weeks to offer complete protection, which means it is too late to administer them once someone already has the virus in their system.
But this monoclonal antibody treatment, developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, should work to neutralize the virus immediately.
And it provides continuous protection for up to one year.
It could mean that healthcare workers, hospital patients, and nursing home residents could receive the treatment if they have been exposed to a known case of Covid.
Your GPs may offer it to people with health problems.
And it could be used to prevent one or two cases from becoming an outbreak in settings like student accommodation.
The team, led by UCLH virologist Dr. Catherine Houlihan, wants to recruit 1,000 volunteers.
Their goal is recruitment in areas where people are likely to have been exposed, including hospitals and student accommodation.
People who wish to participate must show that their close contact has tested positive.
The jab works by “donating” antibodies, Houlihan said, “bypassing that stage of your body doing the work” to produce them.
“We know that this combination of antibodies can neutralize the virus, so we hope to find that giving this treatment by injection can lead to immediate protection against the development of Covid-19 in people who have been exposed, when it would be too late to offer a vaccine. “
He explained that this technique was already used post-exposure for other viruses such as rabies and chickenpox in pregnant women.
Pre-exposure
Another trial already underway at UCLH is looking at whether the same antibody treatment could be used before someone is exposed to the coronavirus, to prevent them from contracting it.
This could be particularly helpful for people who have immune deficiencies or who are undergoing immunosuppressive treatment such as chemotherapy.
Infectious disease consultant Dr. Nicky Longley, who is leading the pre-exposure trial, said it was being tested in people with conditions like cancer and HIV that “can affect the ability of their immune systems to respond to a vaccine.
“We want to assure anyone for whom a vaccine does not work that we can offer an alternative that is equally protective.”
It could also be helpful to protect vulnerable people as an interim measure before they can receive a vaccine, Houlihan confirmed.
But he said it was not suggested as an alternative to the vaccine. And it’s also likely to cost considerably more, at hundreds of pounds a dose.
In conjunction with UCLH, the antibody treatment will be tested at various sites in the US, as well as Wakefield, Manchester, Southampton and Hull in the UK.
But only the London site has started recruiting and criticizing people.
The first results for both arms of the trial, which use antibodies before and after exposure to Covid, are expected in the northern hemisphere spring.
– BBC
