The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | WHO , UNOG , UNITED NATIONS
Bi-weekly Press Briefing: Regeneron COVID-19 Treatment - WHO
WHO back Regeneron COVID-19 drug cocktail, but calls for access and reduction on price
The Regeneron antibody-drug cocktail – casirivimab and imdevimab – has been added to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of treatments for people with COVID-19, the UN agency said on Friday, before underscoring the need for lower prices and equitable distribution.
“This is a major breakthrough in the care of COVID-19 patients” said Dr Janet Diaz, WHO head of clinical care. “This is our first recommendation for a therapeutic for those patients with mild, moderate disease,” she said, because it reduces “the need for hospitalisation if they are at high risk”.
WHO’s conditional recommendations are for use of the drug combination on patients who were not severely ill but at high risk of being admitted to hospital with COVID-19, or those with severe cases of the disease and no existing antibodies.
“Giving them this additional antibody seems to show an effect. And what effect is that? A reduction in mortality” Dr Diaz told a briefing in Geneva.
The antibody therapy was granted emergency use authorization in the United States November last year after it was used to treat former President Donald Trump when he was admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
The United Kingdom has also approved Regeneron, while it is under review in Europe. The WHO recommendations were largely based on data from a British study of 9,000 patients in June which found that the therapy reduced deaths in hospitalised patients whose own immune systems had failed to produce a response.
“We are taking the information (from the UK study) and generalizing it to other persons,” said Dr Diaz. “We saw there was a benefit we thought was meaningful.” The treatment has been on the market for decades to treat many other diseases, including cancers. It is based on a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies which mimic natural antibodies produced by the human body to fight off infections.
Swiss drugmaker Roche has been working in partnership with Regeneron, which holds the patent, to produce the antibody treatment. Dr Diaz urged Regeneron to lower the drug’s price and work on equitable distribution worldwide: “We know that the life-saving benefits and the benefits for patients with COVID-19 is significant and requires action.” Dr Diaz added that UNITAID, an international health agency, was negotiating directly with Roche for lower prices and equitable distribution across all parts of the world, “including low and middle-income countries”.
WHO has also been in discussions with the company for a donation and distribution of the drug through UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, following an allocation criteria set by the health agency. “We are working together with the company so we can address these very important issues so we can have equitable access” she said.
In a statement, WHO said in parallel it had “launched a call to manufacturers who may wish to submit their products for pre-qualification, which would allow for a ramping-up of production and therefore greater availability of the treatment and expanded access. ACT-A partners are also working with WHO on an equitable access framework for recommended COVID-19 therapeutics”. On that subject, Dr Diaz added that “there are bottlenecks and we are aware of those. WHO has launched the pre-qualification expression of interest call so that the manufacturing companies can start to submit their dossiers to WHO”.
ends
STORY: Regeneron COVID-19 Treatment - WHO
TRT: 2’18’’
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:19
DATELINE: 24 Sept 2021, GENEVA, Switzerland
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag alley.
- Wide shot, inside the bi-weekly press conference room, participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Dr Janet Diaz, Head of Clinical Care, World Health Organization (WHO): “So this is a major breakthrough in the care of COVID-19 patients, we have expanded our tools to treat patients with covid-19 and this is our first recommendation for a therapeutic for those patients with mild, moderate disease because of the risk of reducing the need for hospitalization if they are at high risk.”
- Medium shot, participant attending the press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Dr Janet Diaz, Head of Clinical Care, World Health Organization (WHO): “The first recommendation is a conditional recommendation for use in patients who have non severe COVID-19, so those are patients that are mild or moderate and can be seen in the outpatient setting, but it's on the condition that patients are at the higher risk for severe disease. So not for all the patients, but those at the highest risk.”
- Medium shot, participant attending the briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Dr Janet Diaz, Head of Clinical Care, World Health Organization (WHO): “The second recommendation is a conditional recommendation for patients with severe and critical COVID-19, so those are the sicker patients in the hospital on oxygen, on corticosteroids. The condition here is for those patients that are sero-negative. That means on a serology test at that moment, they have not yet mounted their own antibody response. So giving them this additional antibody seems to show an effect. And what effect is that? A reduction in mortality.”
- Wide shot, speakers at podium and briefing broadcast on large-screen TV.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Dr Janet Diaz, Head of Clinical Care, World Health Organization (WHO): “It is true right now there's limited availability and the cost is high for this monoclonal antibody cocktail. However, with this new recommendation, we know that the life-saving benefits and the benefits for patients with COVID-19 is significant and requires action.”
- Medium shot, participant attending the briefing, podium speaker to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Dr Janet Diaz, Head of Clinical Care, World Health Organization (WHO): “At this time, through the ACT aid mechanism UNITAID is negotiating directly with Roche pharmaceutical companies about manufacturing drugs for lower prices, as you have just described, is very important and equitable distribution across all the regions, including low and middle-income countries.”
- Wide shot, briefing room, the three main speakers of the briefing.
- Medium shot, participants in foreground and to rear.
- Wide shot, press briefing room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
A little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.