U.S. to Buy 500,000 Extra Doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Therapy

The Biden administration will purchase a further 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s long-acting COVID-19 antibody therapy Evusheld, bringing the government’s total order to more than 1 million doses.

The tixagevimab/cilgavimab combination, which secured FDA Emergency Use Authorization in December, is indicated for immunocompromised people 12 years and up who may be unable to mount a proper immune response to a COVID-19 vaccine as well as those who can’t be given a COVID-19 vaccine.

AstraZeneca is confident that the antibody can offer protection against the Omicron variant. In two laboratory studies, the therapy was shown to maintain neutralizing power against the Omicron strain.