AZN AstraZeneca PLC

By Sabela Ojea

AstraZeneca PLC's Covid-19 antibody likely won't be able to stop the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

Evusheld, the Covid-19 antibody developed by the pharmaceutical giant, may therefore not protect those who have been treated with the antibody and are later exposed to XBB.1.5.

"We are awaiting additional data to verify that Evusheld is not active against XBB.1.5," the agency said.

The XBB.1.5 subvariant accounts for 28% of circulating Covid-19 variants in the U.S., according to the FDA.

The agency granted emergency use authorization for Evusheld in December 2021. Time magazine named Evusheld one of the best inventions of 2022.

AstraZeneca reported sales of the antibody totaled $537 million in the third quarter.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 06, 2023 17:13 ET (22:13 GMT)

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