Benzinga | Aug 20, 2021 09:50AM EDT

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Antibody Cuts Risk Of Symptomatic Disease By 77%

* A new coronavirus antibody treatment developed by AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ:AZN) reduced the risk of developing the symptomatic disease by 77% compared to placebo.

* Related: AstraZeneca's AZD7442 did not meet the primary endpoint of post-exposure prevention of symptomatic COVID-19.

* The trial included around 5,000 participants who did not have SARS-CoV-2 infection at baseline.

* More than 75% of participants had co-morbidities, which include conditions that have been reported to cause a reduced immune response to vaccination.

* The results of the Provent phase III pre-exposure prophylaxis trial showed there were no cases of severe COVID or COVID-related deaths in those treated with the "antibody cocktail" AZD7442.

* The trial accrued 25 cases of symptomatic COVID-19 at the primary analysis.

* In the placebo arm, there were three cases of severe COVID-19, which included two deaths.

* AstraZeneca said that the antibody combination, delivered through an injection to the muscle, could give people up to 12 months of protection from COVID-19.

* See: UK Approves Regeneron - Roche's COVID-19 Antibody Cocktail

* It is the first non-vaccine antibody combination modified to provide potentially long-lasting protection that has demonstrated prevention of COVID-19 in a clinical trial, AstraZeneca added.

* AstraZeneca is now preparing the regulatory submission of the prophylaxis data to health authorities for potential emergency use authorization or conditional approval of AZD7442.

* Price Action: AZN shares are up 0.52% at $59.49 during the market session on the last check Friday.