WHO experts “strongly recommend” not to use Xevudy and Ronapreve, noting their ineffectiveness against the variants currently in circulation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends no longer using two anti-Covid treatments with synthetic antibodies, noting their ineffectiveness against the variants currently in circulation.
WHO experts “strongly recommend” not to use Xevudy – based on the sotrovimab molecule – and Ronapreve – based on the casirivimab-imdevimab combination -, in the latest version of their guide to anti-Covid treatments, published on the night of Thursday 15 to Friday in the British Medical Journal. Xevudy, developed by the GSK and Vir laboratories, and Ronapreve, developed by Regeneron, are two synthetic antibody treatments against Covid.
Until then, the WHO recommended, with caution, their use in patients with a mild form of the disease, but at risk of progression to a more serious form, due to their age, weight or other factors. However, the arrival of the Omicron variant at the end of 2021 called into question the interest of these treatments and WHO experts, on the basis of several in vitro studies, now believe that they are probably ineffective against the strains in circulation. .
The experts have, at the same time, updated recommendations on other treatments, in particular remdesivir from the Gilead laboratory. This treatment, which the WHO has previously only recommended for use in the case of a mild form of Covid, can, in the light of new studies, be considered in certain serious cases, according to experts. However, in the most serious cases, called “reviews”, the studies do not show a benefit of remdesivir. Experts therefore advise against its use in these cases. Even in cases where it can be used, this treatment is only of interest “modest” with a degree of certainty that is only “moderate”however, warn the experts.