The UAE has become the first country in the world to receive the new antiviral medication for COVID-19.
Studies about the antibody treatment Sotrovimab have shown it can prevent extreme illness and death in 85 percent of early treatment cases.
This came after the landmark agreement between the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, the country’s leading Group Purchasing Organisation (GPO), Rafed, and global innovative biopharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The medication is now available in the UAE after it arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Sotrovimab is an intravenous therapy that can be used as treatment for adults and children above the age of 12 who meet certain criteria and are at risk of suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) endorsed the medicine developed by GSK, following a national assessment and emergency approval of the USA Food and Drug Administration.
HE Dr. Jamal Mohamed Kaabi, Undersecretary for the Abu Dhabi Department of Health, said the medicine is at the forefront of pharmaceutical advancement and is a powerful tool in UAE’s fight to end the pandemic.
“Abu Dhabi continues in its efforts to maintain its number one city position globally in terms of resilience and safety in COVID19 times. Through the non-ending support and guidance from our leadership, we continue in our daily preemptive efforts to search, assess and source through local and international collaboration, the best evidence-based treatment to our population in Abu Dhabi, UAE and beyond,” Dr. Kaabi said.
Abu Dhabi-based Rafed will facilitate the procurement, storage and distribution of Sotrovimab via the Rafed Distribution Center – the largest specialized cold-storage facility in the region.
