GlaxoSmithKline, Vir Biotechnology to Supply Covid-19 Treatment to European Commission

By Chris Wack

GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Vir Biotechnology Inc. said they have signed a joint procurement agreement with the European Commission to supply up to 220,000 doses of Covid-19 treatment sotrovimab.

The companies said sotrovimab is an investigational single-dose SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of adults and adolescents with Covid-19 who don't require oxygen supplementation and who are at risk of progressing to severe Covid-19.

The agreement enables participating European Union member states to quickly purchase sotrovimab, following local emergency authorization or authorization at the EU level, to treat high-risk patients with Covid-19 who may benefit from early treatment with the medication, the companies said.

Sotrovimab is included in the European Commission's portfolio of promising candidate therapies as part of its Covid-19 Therapeutics Strategy.

Glaxo and Vir have secured supply agreements with a number of governments around the world and will continue those efforts as the pandemic continues to evolve, the companies said. In May, sotrovimab was granted emergency-use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in high-risk patients. Glaxo and Vir plan to submit a biologics license application to the U.S. FDA in the second half of 2021.

Write to Chris Wack at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2021 07:05 ET (11:05 GMT)

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