Expansion of Evusheld Administration Targets... Including Immunocompromised Patients with Solid Tumors and HIV

Protection for Severely Immunocompromised Individuals Against Winter Epidemic

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The administration of the COVID-19 preventive antibody agent 'Evusheld' will be expanded starting from the 14th.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force announced on the same day that the target recipients of Evusheld will be expanded to protect severely immunocompromised individuals in preparation for the winter surge.

Previously, the target recipients of Evusheld were severely immunocompromised patients with hematologic cancers, organ transplants, or congenital immunodeficiency. From this day forward, following deliberations by the Infectious Disease Control Committee and others, the target group will be expanded to include patients with solid cancers, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, and those undergoing severe immunosuppressive treatments such as chemotherapy or B-cell depletion therapy, regardless of their underlying disease.

Additionally, the task force has extended the eligible immunosuppressive treatment period for applying for Evusheld from the previous 2-4 months to 6 months to 1 year.

The Evusheld dosage has been increased to 600 mg. Although the standard dose is 300 mg, based on the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's emergency use authorization stating "in the event of variant strain outbreaks, a 600 mg dose may be administered," as well as the U.S. case of increasing the dose to 600 mg to respond to the Omicron variant and committee deliberations, the dosage was raised to 600 mg.

Accordingly, patients who previously received a 300 mg dose can receive an additional 300 mg dose if less than 3 months have passed since their last administration, or an additional 600 mg dose if more than 3 months have passed.

Pre-booking reflecting the expanded target group and increased dosage began on the 9th, and administration of the increased dosage started on this day.

The task force stated, "In preparation for the winter surge, with the expansion of Evusheld recipients and increased dosage, we expect that severely immunocompromised patients undergoing serious immunosuppressive treatments will receive Evusheld for additional protection." They also urged, "Medical staff at administering institutions should thoroughly familiarize themselves with the updated guidelines and actively explain to eligible patients and encourage them to apply for the treatment to ensure prompt administration."

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