November 8, 2022

expert reaction to preprint doing a meta-analysis of studies looking at antibody therapies against COVID-19 for the most vulnerable patients

A preprint, an unpublished non peer reviewed study, looks at the clinical effectiveness of Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab for prophylaxis of COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients.

Dr Kovilen Sawmynaden, Senior Principal Scientist, LifeArc, said:

“This literature-based review provides the first overall summary of clinical efficacy for tixagevimab/cilgavimab (otherwise known as Evusheld^™) in immunocompromised patients.  It is particularly welcome, as it brings together the results of several trials that have been performed since the initial PROVENT¹ phase III in 2021.  The authors perform this review in a systematic fashion, assessing both the quality of data and highlighting the inherent differences between clinical studies (e.g. the indifferent use or availability of control groups).  Nonetheless, the overall summary is very positive and suggests that the prophylactic use of these monoclonal antibodies (as a combination) could be of real benefit to the immunocompromised population (~0.5 M people in the UK) based upon previous and/or currently circulating variants.  As the authors allude to, larger and better controlled studies are needed to keep adding to this body of data and perhaps would go some way to mitigating some of the concerns (around both efficacy and supply) raised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 6 October².  However, it is clear that monoclonal antibodies have an important role to play in our fight against COVID-19 and should continue to be actively pursued as viable options for protection of our vulnerable population and in turn to alleviate pressure on our healthcare and hospital settings.”

¹https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/azd7442-prophylaxis-trial-met-primary-endpoint.html

² https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/decision-on-evusheld-as-a-coronavirus-covid-19-treatment-letter-to-patient-groups/decision-on-evusheld-as-a-covid-19-treatment

Preprint title: ‘Systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab for prophylaxis of COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients’ by Rhea Suribhatla et al.

This work is not peer-reviewed.

Declared interests

Dr Kovilen Sawmynaden was a member of the Bioindustry Association (BIA) COVID-19 Antibody Taskforce and former Board Observer to RQ Biotechnology.”