British nurse becomes first in world to receive Covid antibody cocktail

AstraZeneca hopes its new treatment will build up resistance to deadly coronavirus

Karen Simeson is the first patient to receive the AstraZeneca Covid-19 antibody treatment. Courtesy The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

A British nurse has become the first person in the world to receive a new antibody cocktail in the latest fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The intensive care medic volunteered to be one of 5,000 people to take part in the global trial of AstraZeneca's new treatment.

The UK has been chosen to test it on 1,000 people, with the Yorkshire city of Wakefield selected to lead one of the nine trials at Pinderfields Hospital.

Karen Simeson, who works at the hospital, received the treatment at the weekend.

"Professionally, I've seen the impact that Covid has had on people. It's been devastating on patients and their relatives," she told Sky News.

"For me, this is a personal thing – I haven't seen my mum and dad since March. I miss seeing my friends, hugging my girls.

"This treatment gives us some hope and I want that for everybody."

The durable antibody uses man-made proteins that act like natural human antibodies in the immune system.

AstraZeneca says the combination could be complementary to vaccines as a prevention for Covid-19, for people for whom a vaccine may not be appropriate or to provide added protection for high-risk populations. It could also be used to treat people who have been infected, the pharmaceutical giant said.

The antibodies will help build up resistance to the virus.

Sir Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said the treatment can be injected or administered intravenously and its aim is to help society’s most vulnerable.

"It is an exciting milestone in the development of our long-acting combination which has the potential to provide immediate and long-lasting effect in both preventing and treating Covid-19 infections," he said.

"We are thrilled that the UK is the first country in the world to begin this important Phase 3 trial."

Prof Andrew Ustianowski, of the National Institute of Health Research and chief investigator of the study, said it is hope the treatment will provide good protection against the pandemic.

"This is a really exciting development in the fight against Covid-19, which takes a very different approach to other studies involving vaccines," he said.

"Vaccines work mainly by inducing a person's immune system to produce antibodies that inhibit or neutralise the virus, but some people don't respond well to vaccines, or cannot be given them.

"What we are investigating in this study is whether we can provide protection by giving antibodies that have been shown to neutralise the virus, by injection into the muscle.

"The hope is that this will then provide good protection for many months against infection."

The UK Government has an agreement in principle to buy one million doses of the treatment if it proves successful in the trials.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma described the project as "invaluable".

“I am very proud that the UK is the first country in the world to begin this invaluable study, and that a fifth of trial volunteers will be from Britain – a testament to our fantastic life sciences sector and the willingness of our people to come forward to help others," he said.

“As we move closer to a Covid-19 vaccine, we must keep driving forward clinical trials for new and alternative treatments that protect our vulnerable, particularly those who cannot receive a vaccine. That is why we have procured one million doses of AstraZeneca’s antibody treatment if it meets robust safety and effectiveness standards.”

The UK has announced that it plans to begin rolling out a Covid vaccine early next year.