A new antibody treatment with the potential to give people immediate protection after being exposed to Covid-19 and prevent illness is being trialled in the UK.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) is looking into the use of an antibody which could offer long-term protection to patients when it would be too late to offer a vaccine, as part of a new trial called Storm Chaser.
Scientists have also begun a second clinical trial named Provent, to examine the use of the antibody for people who may not benefit from vaccinations, such as patients with a compromised immune system, or those at increased risk of Covid-19 infection due to factors such as age and existing conditions.
BRITISH boffins are trialling an exciting new drug which could provide instant immunity against Covid.
The new antibody treatment, which could give immediate protection to those exposed to coronavirus, might be available by March, say experts.
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The two clinical trials are an important addition to testing new therapeutic approaches say health bossesCredit: AFP or licensors
It could be given as an emergency treatment to care home residents, hospital inpatients and students in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.
Experts believe it could save thousands of lives.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) is currently looking at an antibody which could offer long-term protection to patients when it would be too late to offer a vaccine, as part of a new trial dubbed Storm Chaser.
Photo: KTS / Science Photo Library via AFP
If it proves effective, it could protect vulnerable people who haven t yet been, or can t be, vaccinated.
And it could help to contain outbreaks.
The trial, run at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust, is looking at whether an injection of two different antibodies could prevent someone who has been exposed to Covid from developing the disease - or at least from becoming very ill.
Vaccines take weeks to offer full protection, meaning it s too late for them to be given once someone already has the virus brewing in their system.
But this monoclonal antibody treatment, developed by the drugs company AstraZeneca, should work to neutralise the virus immediately.