Covid-19: green light for treatment for people not very receptive to vaccines – LCI

The High Authority for Health (HAS) gave “its green light for the use (of) Evusheld in pre-exposure prophylaxis for patients at very high risk of severe form of Covid-19”, announced Friday evening this health authority.

Developed by the AstraZeneca laboratory, this synthetic antibody treatment combines two molecules, tixagevimab and cilgavimab, and is given in two successive injections. Unlike most anti-Covid antibody treatments, which are intended for patients already hospitalized to prevent them from a very serious form, it aims to act before the onset of the disease, on the same principle as a vaccine.

Goal ? Supplement vaccination in people whose body reacts poorly to vaccines. It is also aimed at those who are not eligible for vaccination for medical reasons, in particular because they risk serious allergic reactions. Among these people, only those who are at high risk of a severe form of Covid-19 will be able to benefit from the treatment, according to the HAS, which gives its position a few days after a similar opinion from the American health authorities.

However, unlike the latter, which authorized it from the age of 12, the French authority limits the use of this treatment to adults.

Above all, it warns about the cardiovascular risks, identified during clinical trials of the treatment. She therefore does not recommend Evusheld to people who have at least two risk factors in this regard, for example diabetes and obesity. However, these risk factors often overlap with those of a severe form of Covid.

In any case, “treated patients, especially those with a history of cardiovascular disease, should be attentive to the appearance of a cardiovascular symptom in order to consult a health professional if necessary”, concludes HAS.