(The Hill) -- AstraZeneca said Monday that its antiviral drug was shown to be effective at neutralizing the COVID-19 omicron variant, including the newer BA.2 variant that is causing cases to rise in Europe and Asia.
Data from the Washington University School of Medicine showed that AstraZeneca's Evusheld was effective at reducing the viral burden and inflammation in the lungs caused by the BA.1, BA.1.1 and the BA.2 variants, the company said. The study was conducted with mice infected with the virus.
Evusheld has already been granted an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a pre-exposure prophylaxis for adults and children as young as 12 who weigh at least 88 pounds.
"The findings demonstrate that Evusheld was effective at protecting against infection in the lungs, a critical disease site for severe COVID-19, across all Omicron subvariants tested," said Michael Diamond, a Washington University professor of molecular microbiology, pathology and immunology as well as a researcher in the mouse study.
"The findings further support Evusheld as a potentially important option to help protect vulnerable patients such as the immunocompromised who could face poor outcomes if they were to become infected with COVID-19,” said John Perez, AstraZeneca vice president.
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