The medical regulator has approved a new Covid antibody treatment that could help to protect thousands of people for whom vaccines do not work.
The drug, called Evusheld, can be used like a vaccine to prevent infections.
Developed by the British drugmaker AstraZeneca, it has been designed to protect people whose immune systems do not respond to conventional Covid jabs. It is already being used in the United States, France and Spain, and medical charities have urged the UK government to follow suit.
However, Britain has yet to confirm whether it will purchase the drug. In a deal struck last year, the US paid around $500 per dose.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We will continue to closely monitor investigations into the treatment’s effectiveness against new variants.”
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There are an estimated 500,000 immunocompromised people in the UK, including around 50,000 who have produced no antibodies against the coronavirus after vaccination.
This group includes people with blood cancers and others receiving chemotherapy, as well as organ transplant patients and people taking medicines for multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Vaccines work by prompting a functioning immune system into producing antibodies and infection-fighting cells against the virus. By contrast, Evusheld contains two types of ready-made, laboratory-produced antibodies. It is administered in two injections.
Trials suggest that it cuts the risk of symptomatic Covid by 77 per cent, with protection lasting for at least six months after a single dose, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said. However, the agency added that the trials had not included the Omicron variant now dominant.
Medical charities welcomed the MHRA’s approval but also voiced frustration at the government. Gemma Peters, chief executive of Blood Cancer UK, said that high infection rates meant many immunocompromised people “have felt left behind as the rest of society gets back to normal”.
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Evusheld offers them hope of achieving a similar level of protection against Covid as most of the population have already got from vaccines, she added. “But the government is yet to set out how it plans to use Evusheld.
“We hope the MHRA’s approval will prompt a sense of government urgency on this. Many people with blood cancer have now spent almost two years avoiding social interaction — the government needs to do more to support them.”
Dr Penny Ward, visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at King’s College London, said: “Many folks are continuing to shield while Covid is still circulating in the community. This agent could help them feel more confident to return to a more normal life.”
Dr June Raine, the MHRA chief executive, said: “While vaccines continue to be the first-line defence against Covid-19, we know that some people may not respond adequately, and a small number have had a previous allergic reaction to one of the vaccine ingredients. For them, Evusheld could provide effective protection against Covid-19.”
