Health Authorities Decide Not to Provide Additional Supply of COVID-19 Antibody Treatment 'Rekkirona Injection'

Antibody Therapeutic 'Rekkironaju'
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] The health authorities have decided not to supply the domestically produced COVID-19 antibody treatment 'Rekkironaju' to medical institutions. This decision was made based on the assessment that its effectiveness against the Omicron variant is low.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 23rd through a press release that "the new supply of Rekkironaju has been suspended since the 18th." They added that this reflects the results of in vitro neutralization pharmacological tests of Rekkironaju, which evaluated the likelihood of activity against the Omicron variant as low. Given that the majority of domestic confirmed cases are infected with Omicron, it was judged that administering the antibody treatment would not be significantly effective.

Rekkironaju has been used as an injectable treatment for domestic COVID-19 patients since February last year. As of midnight on the 17th, it was reported that a total of 49,052 patients at 298 hospitals had been treated with it.

The Disease Control Headquarters decided that the remaining stock of Rekkironaju will be used only for patients confirmed to be infected with the Delta variant until the 28th.

The health authorities expect the oral COVID-19 treatment 'Paxlovid' to be utilized. Initially, the authorities limited the prescription of Paxlovid to those aged 65 or older or immunocompromised individuals. Recently, the prescription criteria have been expanded to include those aged 60 or older, patients in their 50s with underlying conditions, and patients in their 40s with underlying conditions.

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