Monoclonal antibody treatments have been around for a while now for treating certain cancers, but the recent decision by the UK Medicines regulator to licence a monoclonal antibody treatment for covid is a big first for the UK. As far as I know this is the first time that the UK has licenced such a treatment for covid and although it cannot and should not replace vaccination, it could be a useful adjunct to vaccination.
Regen-cov was given an emergency use authorisation late in 2020 in the United States and was the drug used to treat former President Donald Trump and his wife when they contracted covid. Now this drug which has passed checks and trials in the UK and can now be prescribed to British covid patients.
Tech Round UK which is reporting on this new development said:
REGEN-COV, by Regeneron is an ‘antibody cocktail,’ comprising a mixture of monoclonal antibodies (those which can be traced back to specific ‘parent’ white blood cells), meaning the antibodies produced are specifically targeted at the cells and virus in question, in this case, SARS-COV-2 [Covid-19].
Although the concept of using specific antibodies which are specifically targeted at something is not all that new (incidentally, TechRound’s Editor’s university dissertation covers this topic…), as a therapeutic for coronavirus, this may prove to be a significant breakthrough in the coming months and years.
REGN-COV is specifically designed to clock the infectivity of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. In 100% of those tested, Regeneron’s treatment prevented symptomatic infection, an outstanding achievement. The treatment also cut rates of infection by am impressive 50%.
It should be stated that the results have not yet been peer reviewed and there is more research and work to be done. However, once again, the power of science does seem to be coming to our collective rescue, giving renewed hope for the coming months and indeed years.
Whilst there is still some monitoring and peer review to go, the fact that it already has emergency use authorisation in the US and has now been cleared by the UK medicines agency does make it look promising. Tech Round went on to discuss how this new or rather newly repurposed drug might be used in the UK. They said that it might be used for those individuals for whom the vaccines is less effective such as the immunosuppressed who do not always respond that well to vaccination against covid.
I believe that Regen-Cov which is being marketed as Ronapreve, will be used quite sparingly by the NHS. This is partially due to the cost of the drug, which costs £1000 to £2000 for a course of treatment and also because the cheaper option, vaccination, is the best option for the vast majority of Britons.
Ronapreve is not a miracle cure for covid, we already have more efficient ways to prevent serious illness from covid in the form of vaccinations, but it is a valuable extra weapon in the armoury against covid.
Another vaccine given “emergency authorization”. Yet SILENCE regarding the extremely successful trial of SaNOtize, a side-effect free nasal spray with an almost 100% effectiveness at eliminating all viruses in the nasal cavity, the precursor to infection, especially in the lungs.
Why has SaNOtize not been given “emergency authorization”, especially as it’s cheap, effective & easy to administer, no needles required & completely negates the need for masks?
Invented in Israel & developed & manufactured in Canada, SaNOtize seems to be a positive godsend, yet we have heard, precisely, NOTHING, despite its success in our own NHS, under a controlled environment?
https://www.ashfordstpeters.nhs.uk/research-nons
I have my suspicions, vested interests in the vaccine manufacturers, the huge PPE contracts and, the “power and control” aspect of the climate of fear and forced compliance being foisted on us and more than a little suspicion that in the current atmosphere of Jew hatred, a “preference” for not using anything remotely “Zionist” to avoid triggering the usual suspects.
I’m not usually into whacky conspiracies, but I suspect that I’m closer to the mark than is comfortable.
Meanwhile, how many have suffered & died unnecessarily. How many young people are now being unnecessarily railroaded into compliance, How much more fear and paranoia, while our leaders and experts turn a free country into a divided fearful one?
Regen-cov is not a vaccine. It is a monoclonal antibody treatment. There are differences between the two types of medication. The Israeli intranasal vaccine has not yet been approved in the UK although is on sale in Bahrain and Israel.https://nocamels.com/2021/07/sanotize-covid-nasal-spray-israeli-pharmacies/ Whilst there are some areas of government that do have a knee jerk anti Israel culture, I’m thinking of the Foreign Office here, my experience of having professional dealings with the MHRA is that they are extremely cautious and anti Israel feeling may not be a factor here. For example the MHRA took well over eight months to approve Regen-cov despite it being used in high profile cases of covid in the USA.
It’s easy to forget that mRNA traditional style in the arm vaccines were much further down the development line than intranasals. Scientists have been working on making mRNA a viable vaccine method since at least SARS COV 1 in the early part of the century although the theory of mRNA vaccines was around decades before that but no suitable technology was available to do that until recent decades.
There are other intranasal covid vaccines in development but they don’t seem to be further along than animal testing stages. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/intranasal-covid-19-vaccine-effective-animal-studies
Mixed in with the aforementioned caution by the MHRA (which incidentally is pretty good at busting Quacks although in the Noakes case I wish they’d acted sooner https://www.gov.uk/government/news/notorious-noakes-10m-guernsey-gcmaf-crook-imprisoned) I wonder if cost is a factor in the Israeli intranasal not being approved yet? It’s certainly expensive $42 US as opposed to $5 US for Astra Zeneca.
All sides in this debate have used fear. The Government quite rightly had to impress on people how serious covid is but its possible that the overdid the fearmongering. However, the govt has not been the only group going a little too far with fear creation. The antivax and covid denialist communities have also played their part and it is the actions of these groups that are behind shockingly low vaccine take up rates in American States that are suffering greatly from the Delta variant.
Like you I worry about the advantages that authoritarians take from this and other disasters as there has always been a section of the Civil Service who are very much in love with things like ID cards.