Covid-19: FDA removes US authorisation for antibody drug Evusheld

The US Food and Drug Administration has withdrawn its emergency use authorisation for the covid-19 antibody drug Evusheld, citing data showing that the treatment is unlikely to be effective against the XBB.1.5 subvariant of omicron now dominant in the United States.

Evusheld, manufactured by AstraZeneca, is a combination of two long acting antibodies, tixagevimab and cilgavimab. It is given as two separate, sequential intramuscular injections.

The FDA first authorised the drug in late 2021 to prevent covid infections in clinically extremely vulnerable people. But in an update issued on 26 January …