Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Switzerland builds stocks of anti-Covid treatments

GlaxoSmithKline logo
Switzerland has reserved 3,000 doses of GlaxoSmithKline's monoclonal antibody drug. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Switzerland has reserved 3,000 doses of the GlaxoSmithKline monoclonal sotrovimab drug to treat patients infected with Covid-19.

This adds to the 3,000 doses of a similar medicine, RegN-Cov 2, developed by Switzerland’s Roche and US biotech company Regeneron.

Monoclonal antibodies, which are cloned in culture and injected into patients, are seen as highly promising treatments to neutralise the virus, particularly in serious cases of infection. The antibody was discovered by Swiss company Humabs BioMed.

+ Read how the Institute of Research in Biomedicine (IRB) developed therapeutic uses for monoclonal antibodies with Humabs BioMed (well before Covid-19 was known)

Although the sotrovimab drug has yet to be granted regulatory approval in Switzerland, trials by GlaxoSmithKline show promising results, the government said in a press release on FridayExternal link.

The reservation of 3,000 doses of the drug was made on the recommendation of the Swiss National Covid-19 Taskforce.

The drug is intended as a treatment for at-risk patients who have an increased risk of severe infection.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR