AstraZeneca’s Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab), a long-acting antibody combination for the prevention of COVID-19, received the emergency use authorization from the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA).
The EDA’s announcement on Sunday comes in the wake of the agreement signed by AstraZeneca in December to supply Evusheld with the Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement and Medical Supply and Technology Management.
It is expected that the first doses of Evusheld will be available in Egypt in the coming weeks.
The drug will be used with the aim of providing protection to groups at risk as a result of their inability to generate an adequate immune response after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine due to previous health conditions such as leukemia, chemotherapy, being on dialysis and other health conditions.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of AstraZeneca in Egypt Hatem Werdany said: “Egypt is one of the first countries that hastened to sign an agreement to supply doses of Evusheld, our new drug consisting of long-acting antibodies, which will play a pivotal role in combating COVID-19 pandemic by preventing symptoms of the virus and providing long-term protection.”
Earlier in August, AstraZeneca announced that Evusheld demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 in the PROVENT trial: efficacy was 83 percent compared to placebo in a six-month analysis announced on November 18.
“In December, Evusheld proved retaining neutralization activity against the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant, according to authentic ‘live’ virus neutralization data from both University College Oxford, UK and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, US,” the website reads.
