PARIS (Reuters) – French health authorities on Friday authorized early access to a new treatment for COVID-19, Xevudy (sotrovimab) from GlaxoSmithKline, believing that this monoclonal antibody could help fight the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Xevudy, which is administered intravenously, is intended for adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older infected with COVID-19 and at risk of severe form.
In a press release, the High Authority for Health (HAS), a body that authorizes the treatment, explains that “unlike the previous ones, [il] presents a mechanism of action which makes it possible to hope for the maintenance of its effectiveness on the variants, including the Omicron variant “.
Two other treatments of this type were already authorized in France: Ronapreve, from Roche and Regeneron, and Evusheld, from AstraZeneca.
The European Medicines Agency authorized the marketing of Xevudy on December 17.
(Written by Sophie Louet, edited by Bertrand Boucey)