Government: "Introducing a total of 20,000 doses of Evusheld from July to October... Provided free of charge" (Update)

Patients with Blood Cancer, Organ Transplants, or Congenital Immunodeficiency Must Have No History of COVID-19 Infection to Be Eligible for Treatment

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The government will introduce 20,000 doses of the COVID-19 preventive antibody treatment Evusheld in two phases, in July and October. The Evusheld introduced domestically will be provided free of charge to patients, similar to oral treatments.

On the 8th, the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced that with the confirmation of an additional budget of 39.6 billion KRW related to the introduction of Evusheld, the domestic supply and administration of Evusheld will be carried out accordingly.

The domestic Evusheld administration targets are ▲ patients with hematologic cancer ▲ organ transplant recipients ▲ patients with congenital (primary) immunodeficiency. These individuals must have no history of COVID-19 infection.

Considering the limited number of eligible recipients, administration will be operated on a reservation basis. Additionally, Evusheld will be provided free of charge to patients, similar to other COVID-19 treatments such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio.

The Promotion Team explained that they estimated the number of patients requiring treatment and, after expert consultation, finalized the introduction volume of 20,000 doses. Of these, about 5,000 doses will be introduced in July, and 15,000 doses in October.

Currently, negotiations are underway to sign a purchase contract for 20,000 doses with the manufacturer AstraZeneca. Once the contract is signed, it is expected to undergo emergency use approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and be actively used domestically. Lee Ki-il, the 1st Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Vice Minister of Health and Welfare), said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting that morning, "We will complete the emergency use approval procedure for Evusheld by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety within June and ensure prompt administration as soon as possible."

Countries overseas such as the United States, France, and Singapore are also using Evusheld. The United States approved emergency use of Evusheld in December last year, and Europe recommended market approval in March this year.

Evusheld is a preventive antibody treatment that directly administers antibodies to people who have difficulty forming immunity through COVID-19 vaccination alone due to immunosuppressive therapy or severe immunodeficiency symptoms, thereby providing preventive effects. It is a long-acting antibody combination containing two antibodies (tixagevimab and cilgavimab) administered intramuscularly, which provides COVID-19 infection prevention effects within hours.

According to research by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Evusheld showed a 93% infection prevention effect and a 50% prevention effect against severe illness and death. The preventive effect through administration is known to last for at least six months. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, said, "We expect foreign data to emerge regarding the degree of effect reduction around six months and the effectiveness of repeated administration," adding, "We will comprehensively evaluate these situations to decide whether to re-administer after six months."

Furthermore, Evusheld has been shown to be effective against Omicron and its subvariants. Research by the U.S. FDA and the University of Washington confirmed that Evusheld maintains infection prevention ability against BA.1 and BA.2, showing particularly stronger prevention against BA.2. Recently, a research team from the University of Oxford in the UK announced that Evusheld exhibits neutralizing activity against BA.4 and BA.5 at levels similar to previous variants.

Meanwhile, medical institutions administering Evusheld will be designated and operated upon application by institutions treating severely immunocompromised patients. Medical staff can assess the necessity of administration, make reservations for eligible patients through the COVID-19 Vaccination Management System, and apply for Evusheld. Upon receiving the medical institution’s application, the local public health center verifies that the patient has no history of COVID-19 infection, then requests drug allocation from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), which allocates and delivers the drugs to the respective medical institutions.

A Promotion Team official stated, "Since Evusheld is being introduced domestically as a protective measure for people who have difficulty forming antibodies after vaccination due to immunosuppressive therapy, it is expected to protect severely immunocompromised individuals, who have been blind spots in vaccination, from COVID-19 even if a resurgence occurs."

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