AstraZeneca to seek PH approval of COVID antibody therapy

MANILA — Vaccine maker AstraZeneca said Wednesday it would file for regulatory approval of its monoclonal antibody therapy Evusheld by the end of the year.

"We will be filing for regulatory approval in the Philippines shortly for a new version, which we call internally the 3152 version," Sylvia Varela, AstraZeneca's area vice president for Asia, told ANC.

Evusheld is said to be most beneficial for immunocompromised individuals, who get "low or undetectable" immune response following COVID-19 vaccination, according to AstraZeneca.

Varela said the new version of Evusheld is "highly effective against current variants that are going on and present in the majority of the other countries."

"Hopefully, we will be able to file for this new drug and provide protection to the most vulnerable populations in the Philippines," she added.

Varela also told ANC that AstraZeneca was "currently filing" before Philippine regulators to convert the emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine to private use.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health said the country would receive 390,000 doses of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines by the end of May.

Bivalent vaccines are modified jabs that target the omicron variant and the original form of the virus.

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—ANC, May 3, 2023