UAE first in world to approve new COVID-19 treatment

The UAE is the first country in the world to license the use of a highly effective new treatment for COVID-19.

According to the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), Sotrovimab has been approved for emergency use only. 

This comes after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave an emergency use authorization to the antibody treatment. 

Sotrovimab, provided by healthcare company GSK, can reduce hospitalization of patients for more than 24 hours and fatalities by as much as 85 per cent when administered as an early treatment for COVID-19. 

It can now be used with patients aged 12 years and above with mild to moderate symptoms of the coronavirus who are at risk of hospitalization or death.

In pre-clinical studies, Sotrovimab has demonstrated effectiveness as a monotherapy against widely circulating variants of the disease.