A brand new capsule that may stop dying from Covid-19 is being made out there from subsequent week, however solely to hospital inpatients.
Paxlovid, hailed as a “game-changing” drug within the battle in opposition to the virus, will probably be used largely to deal with older or at-risk unvaccinated sufferers together with the immuncompromised, the HSE confirmed final evening.
The primary 5,000 doses of Paxlovid, which might stop dying from Covid-19, arrived in Dublin on Wednesday, and knowledge on its use was circulated to hospitals final evening.
Paxlovid has been out there on prescription in Northern Eire and Britain since January, however its arrival within the Republic has been repeatedly delayed.
“Paxlovid will start to be out there in hospitals from subsequent week for inpatients, and following conclusion of a session course of, by way of GPs in the neighborhood,” in accordance with the HSE.
Consultations with GP teams on its use in the neighborhood are at “a complicated stage,” a spokeswoman mentioned.
Individually, medical doctors have been suggested to not prescribe the one newly developed Covid-19 remedy at the moment out there due to its lack of effectiveness in opposition to the present variant.
Dr Colm Henry, chief scientific officer of the HSE, has instructed medical doctors the drug sotrovimab is “unlikely to be efficient” in opposition to the BA.2 variant and that there isn’t a proof a better dose would enhance its efficacy.
Dr Henry’s recommendation on sotrovimab follows the strategy taken by US authorities, the place its emergency use authorisation has been eliminated in states the place BA.2 accounts for greater than half of circumstances. The pressure accounts for nearly all circumstances in Eire.
Swap to remdesivir
Within the absence of different choices, treating medical doctors have been instructed to modify to remdesivir for unvaccinated and a few immunocompromised sufferers.
Use of sotrovimab has been largely restricted to unvaccinated and immunocompromised sufferers. The HSE mentioned 2,000 doses of the drug had been equipped, of which 673 had been administered throughout all hospitals – roughly one in each thousand of the greater than 700,000 PCR-confirmed circumstances thus far this yr.
Michael Rynne of Persistent Lymphocytic Leukaemia Eire mentioned weak sufferers with blood cancers have been struggling to entry the remedy as a consequence of strict eligibility standards. A affected person with a optimistic PCR check has to contact a GP and be referred to a hospital, the place a marketing consultant decides if they’re eligible for the drug.
A HSE spokeswoman mentioned it had been working for a number of months to arrange for the supply of therapeutics for individuals with Covid-19. She mentioned product availability was restricted internationally and merchandise have been topic to regulatory evaluate and approval to be used.
GSK, which manufactures sotrovimab, mentioned there was no difficulty with provide of the drug to Eire.
One other new remedy, Evusheld, not too long ago obtained authorisation within the EU and is on the market in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Austria and the Czech Republic, in accordance with its maker AstraZeneca, however not in Eire.
The Irish Most cancers Society referred to as for the earliest doable entry for sufferers to Paxlovid and Evusheld, notably in view of the “narrowing therapeutic window” supplied by sotrovimab.