Clinical results announced this week could expand COVID-19 prevention options for the immunocompromised and vaccine ineligible, as well as those that have already contracted COVID.
Courtesy of rafapress/Getty Images
Clinical results have been announced this week that could expand COVID-19 prevention options for the immunocompromised and vaccine ineligible population, as well as those who have been previously infected and require a boost in protection. Here’s a look at those results and how they will affect treatment and prevention.
COVID-19 Protection for the Immunocompromised
AstraZeneca’s Phase III Provent trial results showed a statistically significant 77% decrease in a patient’s likelihood of developing symptomatic COVID-19 when proactively treated with Evusheld. Three-quarters of the participant group selected were considered high risk for the development of severe infections, for reasons such as having a compromised immune system incapable of warding off the virus.
The therapeutic was seen to still be effective at a six-month study follow-up, according to the levels of Evusheld maintained in patient serum. After analysis of the six-month follow-up findings, the risk reduction was calculated to be 83%. No deaths or severe COVID-19 cases were seen during the study.
Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s vice president of biopharmaceutical research and development, commented on the support, backing Evusheld as a COVID-19 standard-of-care preventative.
“These data add to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of Evusheld to help prevent symptomatic and severe COVID-19, especially for those individuals who can’t respond adequately to vaccination and need additional protection. Evusheld is now available in many countries around the world, and we are progressing filings in pre-exposure prophylaxis as well as mild-to-moderate treatment.”
Evusheld has already been approved by Health Canada for children and adults who need additional protection from developing a severe COVID-19 infection. With a single-dose administration and high clinical efficacy, Evusheld may be a long-awaited answer for the global immunocompromised population.
Boosters for the Previously Infected
Clover Biopharmaceuticals dialed in its focus on deficits that remain in COVID-19 management. Results have been announced for the Phase II/III Spectra global study investigating the efficacy of the SCB-2019 (CpG 1018/Alum) vaccine booster in patients that have previously developed a COVID-19 infection.
Sites spanned four continents and enrolled over 30,000 participants. In the 7,353 patients assigned to the study’s investigational group, immune protection continually increased incrementally following SCB-2019 boosters. After one dose, protection was calculated at 89.7%, increasing to 93.8% after two doses.
Clover’s president of global research and development, Dr. Nicholas Jackson, described the impact that SCB-2019 could have on the ongoing pandemic.
“Despite historic progress with vaccination efforts over the past two years, COVID-19 continues to pose a serious threat globally, including for those who have been previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2. The newly published data underscores the importance of vaccination even after prior infection, and the potential of SCB-2019 (CpG 1018/Alum) as a universal booster with a favorable safety and tolerability profile to help address ongoing and future outbreaks in China and the rest of the world,” he said.
The SCB-2019 vaccine relies upon Clover’s Trimer-Tag technology to build its unique stabilized trimeric S-protein formation. Additional credit is relayed to Dynavax Technologies’ CpG 1018 toll-like receptor 9 agonist adjuvant, which can increase the immune response elicited from a vaccination.
