Milan, April 20 (beraking latest news Salute) – Italy at the forefront of anti-Covid monoclonal antibodies that are promised to be active also against Sars-CoV-2 variants. “Vir-7831 is a monoclonal antibody produced in our center of excellence in Parma, which has just demonstrated 85% efficacy in avoiding hospitalization or death if administered at the onset of the disease”, he reminds’ Il Sole 24 Ore ‘Fabio Landazabal, CEO of Gsk Italia, who also underlines how, from preliminary studies, the product – the result of the collaboration between the British GlaxoSmithKline and the American Vir Biotechnology – also seems to work against the mutants of the pandemic coronavirus.
The study that demonstrated the effectiveness of the drug against hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 “was interrupted for profound effectiveness – highlights the manager – and authorization for emergency use was immediately requested in the main countries of the world. Italy is one of the countries where these results have been shared, together with the company’s willingness to deepen them “.
In Europe, the review process by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA Medicines Agency has just begun, from which authorization for Vir-7831 for the use of emergency, while in the US the decision should arrive by April. “Vir-7831 has two particularly important characteristics that differentiate it from the other monoclonal antibodies that we have heard of so far,” Landazabal points out, describing “a double mechanism of action that eliminates the virus from cells and prevents its entry. ability demonstrated by preliminary studies is to be effective also against variants, as it acts on a part of the virus that has not yet mutated “.
Vir-7831 “is currently for use in infusion for patients at the onset of the disease – continues the CEO of Gsk Italia – Other studies are in progress to evaluate its use in prophylaxis, in hospitalized patients and with a simpler formulation such as intramuscular injection, but it is still too early to know the results “.
“And still on the subject of Covid-19 – adds Landazabal – we are evaluating two other monoclonal antibodies. The first, called otilimab, originally studied for rheumatoid arthritis, has shown potential efficacy in older and hospitalized patients; the second, called Vir -7832, is still in the initial stages of research “.
Why Parma? “Because in Parma we have a plant not only specialized in the most modern and innovative productions – replies the manager – but also in producing the drug candidates that are used for clinical trials. And here, in addition to Vir-7831, we also produce three others. different for the treatment of multiple myeloma, severe asthma and lupus, which are exported all over the world from Parma “.