WHO approves Roche/Regeneron Covid-19 treatment

Health agencies want Covid-19 treatments to be made available to patients in low-income countries. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

The World Health Organization (WHO) has backed a Covid-19 treatment developed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche and United States biotech company Regeneron.

WHO also made it clear that it wants both companies to make the treatment available to low income countries at an affordable price.

Roche and Regeneron have collaborated on producing the treatment using the monoclonal antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab, which have been shown to be effective at neutralising the virus when combined.

WHO on Friday recommended that the treatment be used on infected people who either have underlying health conditions or are suffering from severe symptoms.

The health body has urged both companiesExternal link to “address the high price and limited production” of the treatment. It is asking Roche for “a donation and distribution of the drug through UNICEF”.

The global health agency UNITAID is also negotiating with the manufacturers to grant access to the drug for less well-off countries.

“The need to have effective treatments for Covid-19 has never been greater, with many countries around the world facing case surges driven by Delta and other variants,” UNITAID stated on Friday. “These surges are having a particularly devastating impact on low- and middle- income countries, which continue to have limited access to vaccines.”

The agency welcomed an initial donation from Roche and Regeneron to meet this challenge but argued for a more sustainable solution. “Broader access commitments are needed from industry to ensure that pricing and supply conditions enable this product to reach all people regardless of where they live.”