Roche-Regeneron antibody treatment cuts Covid deaths

A cocktail of antibodies developed by Roche and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to treat Covid-19 has been shown to cut hospitalisation or death by 70%, the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday.

Roche said the treatment met all key secondary endpoints in its phase III trial, which consisted of 4,567 high-risk non-hospitalised volunteers. Symptom duration was also reduced, from 14 days to 10.

The treatment, a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab antibodies, has been developed with financial backing from the US government. Roche and American firm Regeneron had previously said they can produce more than 2m doses annually.

Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer, said: "New infections continue to rise globally, with over 3m reported cases last week, so this investigational antibody cocktail may offer hope as a potential new therapy to high-risk patients, particularly in light of recent evidence showing that casirivimab and imdevimab together retain activity against key emerging variants."

The treatment has received emergency use authorisation in the US and the European Medicines Agency has permitted its use in non-hospitalised patients. It has not been granted marketing authorisation by any health authority, however.

Following the publication of the latest trial results, Roche said it would continue to work with the US Food and Drug Administration and the EMA along with other global health authorities.