The study found a single 600mg dose of AZD7442 injected into muscle cut the risk of death or severe disease by 50 per cent, when compared with a placebo, in people who had been symptomatic for seven days or less. For people treated within five days of their first symptoms first appearing, that figure reached 67 per cent.
A Covid-19 antibody injection created by AstraZeneca appears to both prevent and treat the virus, new data suggests.
The firm has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorisation for AZD7442, which is made up of two antibodies, as a preventative early-intervention treatment.
It said trial data showed the treatment effectively prevented the development of severe symptoms in coronavirus patients who had a mild or moderate form of the disease, when compared with a placebo.
Most of the 903 non-hospital patients in the trial were at high risk of progression to severe Covid-19, including those with multiple health conditions.
The results have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Hugh Montgomery, a professor of intensive care medicine at University College London and lead researcher on the trial, said: “With continued cases of serious Covid-19 infections across the globe, there is a significant need for new therapies like AZD7442 that can be used to protect vulnerable populations from getting Covid-19 and can also help prevent progression to severe disease.”
The jab has been touted as an alternative for people unable to have a normal vaccination or respond poorly to Covid-19 vaccines, and those whose health conditions put them at particular risk of serious illness.
A separate study of AZD7442 published in August showed there were no cases of severe Covid or coronavirus-related deaths in those treated. The study of more than 5,000 adults found AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 by 77 per cent compared with a placebo.
More than 75 per cent of people in that trial had health issues which put them at increased risk of severe disease, or had a reduced immune response to vaccination.
