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(Adds details on trial, context)
Aug 25 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it
had begun testing an antibody-based treatment for the prevention
and treatment of COVID-19, with the first participants dosed,
adding to recent signs of progress on possible medical solutions
to the disease.
The British drugmaker, whose COVID-19 vaccine candidate is
already among the most advanced, said the early-stage trial
would evaluate if AZD7442, a combination of two monoclonal
antibodies (mAbs), was safe and tolerable in up to 48 healthy
participants between the ages of 18 and 55 years.
If the UK-based trial has a positive readout, AstraZeneca
said it would proceed with larger, mid-to-late-stage trials to
test AZD7442 as both a preventative treatment for the disease
and a medicine for patients who have it.
mAbs mimic natural antibodies generated in the body to fight
off infection and can be synthesised in the laboratory to treat
diseases in patients and has been endorsed by top scientists.
Current uses include treatment of some types of cancers.
London-listed AstraZeneca in June received $23.7 million in
funding from U.S. government agencies to advance development of
antibody-based treatments for the novel coronavirus.
U.S. based companies Regeneron and ELi Lilly
are also testing mAbs-based treatments for COVID-19.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Patrick Graham)
