Health Authorities: Domestic Antibody Treatment RekkiRona Less Effective Against South African Variant

Remdesivir Used by Over 4,000 People Effective Against Both UK and South African Variant Viruses

Nurses are working in the COVID-19 dedicated ward at the National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, a key COVID-19 hospital in northern Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Remdesivir, currently used as a treatment for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has been confirmed to be effective against both the UK and South African variant viruses.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters stated at a regular briefing on the 11th regarding the efficacy evaluation results of COVID-19 antibody treatments, "The antibody treatment (Rekkirona), which received conditional approval for phase 3 clinical trials from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 5th, showed a significant reduction in neutralizing ability against the South African variant virus."

Neutralizing ability refers to the capacity to inactivate the virus. Analysis results showed that Rekkirona exhibited excellent neutralizing ability against six existing variant viruses: S, L, V, G, GH, and GR types. It also demonstrated excellent neutralizing ability against the UK variant virus. However, the neutralizing ability against the South African variant virus showed a marked decline.

Currently, Rekkirona is undergoing additional analysis by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Celltrion explained, "Among 38 candidate neutralizing antibodies, candidate antibody number 32, which showed neutralizing ability against both the UK and South African variant viruses, is being used to develop a 'variant-tailored cocktail therapy' with the goal of completing clinical trials within six months."

Remdesivir, used as a treatment for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has been confirmed to be effective against both the UK and South African variant viruses. Photo by Yonhap News

The quarantine authorities stated regarding the limited efficacy against the South African variant virus, "Based on these results, we will recommend restricting the use of this treatment (Rekkirona) for confirmed cases of the South African variant."

On the other hand, remdesivir, currently used as a COVID-19 treatment, has been confirmed to suppress not only the existing variant viruses S, GH, and GR but also the UK and South African variant viruses. As of midnight on the 11th, remdesivir has been supplied to 119 hospitals and 4,313 patients.

As of the 8th, plasma treatments have been approved for therapeutic use by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 36 cases and are being used.

Kwon Junwook, the second deputy director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said, "We expect the emergence of antibody treatments with broader suppressive abilities in the future," and added, "We will do our best to suppress the spread of variant strains within the country."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.