Canada on Thursday authorized British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc’s antibody-based therapy for preventing COVID-19 infections, giving itself another weapon against the disease as cases rise in the country.
Health Canada has cleared the drug – Evusheld – for use in individuals aged 12 years and older who are immune compromised and unlikely to mount an adequate immune response to COVID-19 vaccination or for whom COVID-19 vaccination is not recommended.
While vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, Evusheld contains lab-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection.
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