A nurse prepares a Covid vaccine
(Picture: PA Wire)Antibody therapies offer significant protection against Covid-19 for clinically vulnerable people, according to new research.
Analysis of data from over 24,700 patients found that prophylactic antibody therapies were 86 per cent effective in preventing death from the virus in immunocompromised patients, such as people with blood cancer or autoimmune disease.
In a pre-print released on Tuesday, scientists said that the roll-out of the therapy, combined with vaccination, could provide a “revolutionary” approach to safeguard vulnerable patients this coming winter. It would particularly benefit immunocompromised patients who do not respond to vaccination, they said.
The research, carried out by academics from the University of Birmingham and King’s College London, found that the treatment was also 88 per cent effective in stopping admission to intensive care, 69 per cent effective at preventing hospital admission and 40 per cent effective in cutting transmission.
It cited Evusheld, a treatment created by AstraZeneca, as particularly effective. The drug, which is given as a single intramuscular injection, is currently offered in the United States, France and Israel but is only available to patients in the UK for over £1,000.
Previous clinical trials have shown that Evusheld provides six months of protection.
There are about 500,000 immunocompromised people in the UK who remain at a higher risk from Covid-19 as their weakened immune system makes them less likely to respond well to vaccines, according to Blood Cancer UK.
Patient groups and charities have urged ministers to back the drug but the Department of Health and Social Care has said that its experts do not feel that sufficient data exists to show that it provides protection against the Omicron variant, which is currently dominant in the UK.
The study is the largest meta-analysis of studies about antibody therapies for immunocompromised and immunosuppressed patients to date, examining 17 datasets from researchers across the globe.
Dr Lennard Lee, a senior research fellow at the University of Birmingham and the study’s senior investigator, said: “There is strong evidence emerging across the world that this approach of using prophylactic antibody therapies in combination with vaccination is a revolutionary approach to safeguard the most vulnerable patients this winter.
“The science and data suggest that it would be a successful approach for many cancer and immunocompromised patients at the highest level of risk.”
Lord Mendelsohn, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for vulnerable groups to pandemics which commissioned this review, said: “This paper is incredibly important as it has reviewed the evidence from across the world.
“It will provide the evidence to help our Government decision-makers assess the science on measures to protect the immunocompromised this winter.”
The study has not yet been peer reviewed.
