Permission for AstraZeneca use in COVID prevention revoked
The US Food and Drug Administration has revoked permission for the use of the Evusheld drug by British-Swedish AstraZeneca aimed to prevent coronavirus in emergency circumstances, TASS reports
It is noted that the decision was due to the fact that the drug does not work against 'Kraken', the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, that is currently spreading in the United States.
According to AstraZeneca, the permission can be restored if the level of distribution of such sub-variants in the United States decreases to 90 percent or less on a sustainable basis. Based on this, the authorities advise to leave this drug in warehouses.
Since December 2022, ‘Kraken’ has been spreading rapidly in the United States, accounting for almost half of all COVID-19 cases in the country recently.
As for the Evusheld drug, it is a mixture of two monoclonal antibodies – tixagevimab and cilgavimab – which effectively prevents infection with coronavirus infection for up to six months and has few adverse reactions.
