GlaxoSmithKline plc and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorisation to Xevudy (sotrovimab) for the early treatment of COVID-19. Sotrovimab is now approved in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of adults and adolescents (aged 12 years and over and weighing at least 40kg) with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe COVID-19.
The grant of the marketing authorisation in the EU is a result of the positive opinion issued on 16 December by the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP).
In July 2021, GSK and Vir announced a Joint Procurement Agreement (JPA) with the EC to supply up to 220,000 doses of sotrovimab. Following the grant of the marketing authorisation in the EU, Member States participating in the JPA can now order sotrovimab to support their pandemic responses.
Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, GSK, said:
Since the start of the pandemic we have seen an unprecedented effort by governments, academia and industry to find solutions to help as many people as quickly as possible. COVID-19 therapeutics are an important part of the solution. We have already been working to lay the foundation for more patients across Europe to access sotrovimab through the Joint Procurement Agreement with the European Commission. With today’s marketing authorisation we are now able to expand access, and we are discussing with governments how we can bring sotrovimab to more patients.
George Scangos, PhD, chief executive officer of Vir, said:
The grant of the marketing authorisation in the European Union for sotrovimab marks yet another important milestone in our efforts to combat COVID-19, as it allows us to expand access across multiple countries working to address this challenge. Given recent pre-clinical data from our own labs, as well as that of other independent labs, demonstrating that sotrovimab retains activity against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant and all other currently tested variants of concern and interest, we remain confident in the critical role of sotrovimab and look forward to further contributing to the fight against this pandemic.
The grant of the marketing authorisation in the EU is based on data from the COMET-ICE phase III trial, demonstrating that intravenous treatment with sotrovimab resulted in a 79% reduction (adjusted relative risk reduction) (p<0.001) in all-cause hospitalisations for more than 24 hours or death due to any cause by Day 29 compared to placebo, meeting the primary endpoint of the trial. In absolute numbers, 30 (6%) of the 529 patients in the placebo arm progressed, compared to six (1%) of the 528 patients receiving sotrovimab. In clinical trials conducted to date, sotrovimab has been well-tolerated. The most common adverse reactions are hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions, seen in approximately 2% and 1% of cases, respectively.
GSK and Vir are committed to the ongoing evaluation of sotrovimab as the COVID-19 landscape continues to evolve at different rates across the globe and new variants of concern and interest emerge. Updated in vitro data, published in bioRxiv, demonstrate that sotrovimab retains activity against all tested variants of concern and interest of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as defined by the World Health Organization, including, but not limited to, Omicron (B.1.1.529), Delta (B.1.617.2), Delta Plus (AY.1 or AY.2) and Mu (B.1.621).
