Treatment of COVID-19 in Switzerland: AstraZeneca delivers antibody therapies

On Jul 21, 2022

AstraZeneca is supplying Switzerland with approximately 1,200 doses of tixagevimab and cilgavimab, a long-acting combination antibody therapy, for the treatment of COVID-19. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and AstraZeneca have reached an agreement to this effect.

“In concluding the agreement, we are confident that we will soon be able to provide patients in Switzerland with an important additional treatment option for COVID-19. The antibody combination remains effective at neutralizing the currently circulating omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, and can soon be used in Switzerland for the treatment and the prevention of COVID-19,” said Katrien De Vos, Country President of AstraZeneca Switzerland.

The treatment is suitable for patients with COVID-19 symptoms, who have an increased risk of a severe disease progression. The product is expected to become available for treatment in August and may only be used in accordance with the applicable criteria of the Swiss Society of Infectious Diseases (SSI).

AstraZeneca previously delivered first doses to Swiss hospitals in early May 2022 for the prevention of COVID-19. The antibody combination is therefore already available for preventive use today and is reimbursed by the federal government.

The antibody combination tixagevimab and cilgavimab (AZD7442)

The antibody treatment (AZD7442) is a combination of two LAABs – tixagevimab (AZD8895) and cilgavimab (AZD1061) – derived from the B-cells of patients convalescing after a SARS-CoV2 infection. Human monoclonal antibodies were discovered at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and licensed to AstraZeneca in June 2020.

The antibodies bind to different sites on the SARS-CoV2 spike protein and have been optimized by AstraZeneca to have a prolonged half-life and reduced binding to the Fc receptor and complement C1q. The longer half-life prolongs the duration of action compared with conventional antibodies. Initial data from the ongoing PROVENT phase III prevention study indicate that the protection lasts at least six months. The reduced binding to the Fc receptor should minimize the risk of antibody-dependent exacerbation of the condition, a process in which virus-specific antibodies cause the infection and/or disease to progress instead of inhibiting it. AZD7442 is administered as an intramuscular injection.

In August 2021 AstraZeneca announced that AZD7442 showed a statistically significant reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 in the PROVENT study; efficacy was 83% versus placebo in a 6-month analysis, as was published on 18 November 2021. In October 2021, AstraZeneca published the results of the TACKLE phase III outpatient treatment study. In the TACKLE phase III outpatient treatment study, AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing a severe COVID-19 infection or dying (regardless of cause) among non-hospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who had been symptomatic for seven days or less (the primary endpoint); the risk was reduced by 50% versus placebo, by 67% when patients were treated within five days of symptom onset, and by 88% when treatment was administered within three days. 90% of the participants in the TACKLE study were at high risk of developing a severe COVID-19 infection.

AZD7442 is also being studied as a potential treatment for inpatient COVID-19 patients in the ACTIV-3 study of the National Institutes of Health, and in a further study being conducted by cooperation partners.