Swiss regulator gives green light to first drug to prevent Covid-19
The drug is currently only approved for use to prevent Covid-19 among people who don't receive enough protection from vaccines.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
Swissmedic has issued a temporary marketing authorisation for AstraZeneca’s drug Evusheld, making it the first Covid-19 prophylaxis drug approved by the Swiss medical regulator.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/jdp
Русский
ru
Швейцарский регулятор одобрил препарат для профилактики Covid-19
This authorisation means that the drug, which is administered as an injection, can now be reimbursed by the federal government or health insurance under certain conditions. Evusheld, which is an antibody combination of Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab, is intended for people 12 years and older who aren’t able to build up sufficient immune defenses against Covid-19 from vaccines.
The federal government has already signed contracts with AstraZeneca’s Swiss subsidiary to procure the Covid-19 drug starting with 5,000 doses, according to Keystone-SDA.
Evusheld is authorised for use for Covid-19 prevention in the United States (emergency use), Japan, the European Union and several other countries.
In the UK, where AstraZeneca has its headquarters, officials recently saidExternal link they will not purchase the drug citing “insufficient data” on the duration of protection it provides against the dominant variant Omicron and its subvariants.
On Friday, the EU extended its recommendation for the drug so that it can also be used as a treatment. Swissmedic is still reviewing Evusheld for use as a treatment. However, Swiss Covid regulations allow for the drug to be used to treat Covid-19 patients under certain conditions as the company’s application is being reviewed.
Other treatments
On Friday, the World Health Organization rescinded recommendations for two Covid-19 antibody therapies, stating that new variants have rendered them obsolete.
The two therapies, sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab, were designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralise the virus’ ability to infect cells.
GSK and partner Vir Biotechnology’s sotrovimab was pulled off the US market by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April.
In January, the FDA also revised its stance on Casirivimab-imdevimab, which is sold under the name REGEN-COV. It limited the use of the drug sold by Swiss firm Roche and US firm Regeneron to a smaller group of patients, citing that it is less effective against the Omicron variant.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Abbot of Saint-Maurice steps down following sex abuse report
This content was published on
Jean Scarcella has decided to step down as Abbot of Saint-Maurice in the Swiss canton of Valais, the abbey announced on Saturday.
Philipp Matthias Bregy named new president of Centre Party
This content was published on
Valais National Councillor Philipp Matthias Bregy is the new President of the Centre Party. The delegates elected him as the successor to Gerhard Pfister on Saturday in Bern without discussion.
Global call for active neutrality launched from Geneva
This content was published on
A number of players have launched a worldwide appeal for active neutrality in Geneva at a time when the major powers are taking a tougher line. The city is competing with Vienna to attract an international congress on this issue in 2026.
This content was published on
The M'Tongé gorilla has died at Basel Zoo at the age of 26. The dominant male had to be euthanised on Friday morning owing to a parasite infection.
This content was published on
Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has been invited to Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Swiss canton coordinates donations for landslide destroyed village
This content was published on
The Swiss canton of Valais to form committee to coordinate CHF 57.4 million donations for village destroyed by a landslide.
Body of Blatten landslide victim found and identified
This content was published on
The body of 64-year-old man, who has been missing since part of the Brich glacier collapsed on the Swiss village of Blatten has been found.
Explainer: How ready is Switzerland for a new wave of Covid-19?
This content was published on
Covid-19 cases are on the rise again, sparking renewed talk of vaccination and a possible return to social distancing in the autumn.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.