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British scientists are testing a new drug that could prevent someone who has been exposed to the coronavirus from developing Covid-19 disease, which experts say could save many lives.
Antibody therapy would confer instant immunity against the disease and could be given as emergency treatment to hospitalized patients and nursing home residents to help contain outbreaks.
People who live in households where someone has contracted Covid could be injected with the drug to make sure they don’t get infected as well. It could also be given to college students, among whom the virus has spread rapidly because they live, study and socialize together.
Dr Catherine Houlihan, a virologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) leading a study called Storm Chaser on the drug, said: “If we can show that this treatment works and prevent people who are exposed to the virus from continuing to developing Covid-19 would be an exciting addition to the arsenal of weapons being developed to combat this terrible virus. “
The drug has been developed by UCLH and AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that has also, together with the University of Oxford, created a vaccine that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is expected to approve for use in Britain next week.
The team hopes the trial will show that the antibody cocktail protects against Covid-19 for between six and 12 months. Trial participants receive it in two doses, one after the other. If approved, it will be offered to someone who has been exposed to Covid in the previous eight days.
It could be available as early as March or April if approved by the drug regulator after it has reviewed the study evidence. The trial involves ULCH, several other British hospitals and a network of 100 sites around the world. This month, University College hospital became the first site in the world to recruit patients for the randomized control trial and give them the injection or a placebo.
“To date, we have injected 10 participants (staff, students, and others) who were exposed to the virus at home, in a healthcare setting, or in student residences,” Houlihan said. She and her colleagues would closely follow the participants to see which one develops Covid-19.
The immediate protection that the drug promises could play a vital role in reducing the impact of the virus until everyone is immunized. The vaccination program is underway using the Pfizer / BioNTech jab and is expected to last until next summer.
NHS England accelerated deployment of the vaccine this week after criticism from hospital bosses, GP leaders and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt that it was taking too long.
“The advantage of this drug is that it provides you with immediate antibodies,” Houlihan said. “We could tell trial participants who have been exposed: yes, they can get vaccinated. But we wouldn’t tell them that that would protect them from disease, because by then it is too late. [because the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines do not confer full immunity for around a month]. “
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia who specializes in infectious diseases, said the new treatment could significantly reduce the number of deaths from Covid.
“If you are dealing with outbreaks in settings such as nursing homes, or if you have patients who are particularly at risk for severe Covid, such as the elderly, then this could save many lives. As long as it is confirmed in phase 3 trials, it could play an important role in keeping people alive who would otherwise die. So it should be something important, ”he said.
“If you had an outbreak in a nursing home, you may want to use these types of antibody cocktails to control the outbreak as soon as possible by giving the drug to everyone in the nursing home, residents and staff, who have not. . Has been vaccinated. Likewise, if you live with your elderly grandmother and you or someone else in the house becomes infected, then you could give this to protect her. “
The drug involves a long-acting antibody combination known as AZD7442, which has been developed by AstraZeneca. Instead of antibodies made by the body to help fight an infection, AZD7442 uses monoclonal antibodies, which have been created in a laboratory.
In documents about a clinical trial that AstraZeneca has registered in the United States, he explains that he is investigating “the efficacy of AZD7442 for post-exposure prophylaxis of Covid-19 in adults. The Sars-CoV-2 spike protein contains the RBD of the virus [receptor-binding domain], which allows the virus to bind to receptors on human cells. By targeting this region of the virus spike protein, antibodies can block the binding of the virus to human cells and are therefore expected to block infection. “
In a separate trial, called Provent, UCLH is investigating whether the drug might also protect people with compromised immune systems, such as those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, who have recently been exposed to the virus but have not received a vaccine, or in those who have not resulted in immunity due to their underlying condition. Both the Provent and Storm Chaser tests are now in phase 3.
Dr. Nicky Longley, UCLH infectious disease consultant, who is leading the second study, said: “We will recruit people who are elderly or in long-term care, and who have conditions such as cancer and HIV that can affect the capacity of their system. immune to respond to a vaccine. We want to assure anyone for whom a vaccine doesn’t work that we can offer an alternative that is just as protective. “
Both trials are taking place at UCLH’s new vaccine research center, which is funded by the research arm of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, and led by Professor Vincenzo Libri.
Dr Richard Jarvis, co-chair of the British Medical Association’s committee for public health medicine, said: “For the vast majority of the population, vaccination offers the best protection against Covid-19, and NHS staff work 24 hours a day. hours of the day to deliver this to as many vulnerable patients as possible in this first wave of deployment.
“It will certainly be interesting to see if these trials are effective. But it is important that any new treatment is thoroughly researched, analyzed and, most importantly, safe before we consider its introduction. “
