The rapidly evolving coronavirus has prompted a change of monoclonal antibody options at the Ferris, Texas COVID-19 treatment facility.
Starting in January 2022, the COVD-19 treatment center in Ferris, Texas will offer courses of Sotrovimab to patients suffering from the effects of SARS-Co-V-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The change in therapy has been prompted by the arrival in Texas of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which according to medical research at the University of Texas will become the dominant strain of the virus and is more resistant to the previously used monoclonal antibody treatment known as Regeneron.
Already in Texas, Omicron accounts for more than 90% of new infections, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Regeneron itself has issued a statement regarding the diminished effectiveness of its previously successful monoclonal antibody treatment against the new Omicron variant.
Sotrovimab is an engineered monoclonal antibody treatment developed by the British-based multinational pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline and has been shown in research cited by the New England Journal of Medicine to be more effective in preventing COVID-19 from progressing to a stage that requires hospitalization among infected patients with comorbidities that increase their vulnerability.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (E.U.A.) to permit the emergency use of the unapproved product Sotrovimab for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.
Sotrovimab is not authorized in patients who’ve already progressed in symptoms to the point of requiring hospitalization. COVID-19 patients are therefore advised to seek treatment as early as possible.
Sotrovimab is still in its investigational stage of development, but so far it has produced no major side effects in those who’ve received the treatment.
In a December 29, 2021 news release, the City of Ferris announced the allocation of 400 doses ofSotrovimab to the City of Ferris for use in the monoclonal antibody infusion center that the city established in the fall of 2021. The new treatment should arrive in early January 2022 and will be administered to patients by MDLab, a Rockwall-based mobile health care service. The cost of the treatment has been covered by the Federal government. Patients do not need to have health insurance or meet specific residency requirements.
To book an appointment for treatment, consult the MDLab website.