The world’s newest anti-viral treatment for COVID-19, Sotrovimab, is now available for early treatment of certain categories COVID-19 patients in the UAE following a landmark agreement between the Abu Dhabi Department of Health, the country’s leading group purchasing organization (GPO) Rafed, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
With the arrival of the first shipment yesterday in Abu Dhabi airport, Abu Dhabi become the first location globally to receive this drug.
Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody treatment delivered through intravenous therapy. Sotrovimab can be used to treat adults and children above the age of 12 who meet certain criteria and are at risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, as per protocols that have been developed by the National Scientific Committee. Studies have shown the medicine to prevent hospitalization and death in 85% of early selected treatment cases and can work on all known variations to date.
Following USA Food and Drug Agency Emergency use authorization approval, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) issued its endorsement of the new GSK medicine following a national assessment. Abu Dhabi Department of Health & Rafed executed its agreement with the manufacturer to ensure deliveries as early as June and July, enabling patients in the UAE to be among the first in the world to access the new therapy. The National Scientific Committee in MoHAP & Abu Dhabi Department of Health have worked on the treatment protocols that will guide doctors in defining at risk patients and ensuring that they have access to Sotrovimab according to their risk profile and eligibility criteria.
Abu Dhabi-based Rafed will facilitate the procurement, storage and distribution of Sotrovimab via the Rafed Distribution Center – the Region’s largest specialized cold-storage facility. The Center has played a vital role to support the efforts of the HOPE Consortium, and is a milestone collaboration by healthcare, logistics and supply chain entities designed to facilitate the ongoing evolution of Abu Dhabi’s medical and life science offering to combat the pandemic, nationally and internationally.
As the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi finalizes a coherent framework to determine eligibility for Sotrovimab treatment, Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of the Etihad Aviation Group, has transported the first batch of Sotrovimab into the UAE utilizing its IATA CEIV-certified PharmaLife product.
After receiving positive scientific opinion by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Human Medicinal Products – an important step for the use of the medication for early treatment of COVID-19 across Europe – GSK has submitted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application to the US Food and Drug Administration and the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention and got approval from both.
The high efficiency and provision of General Administration of Customs has been a great support to all the efforts involved throughout the process of receiving the Sotrovimab medication at the Abu Dhabi International Airport, as they have ensured a smooth and rapid custom clearing for the medication to facilitate the release of the shipment from the airport customs port at the earliest, thereby enabling the medication to reach patients faster.
