January/February 2022 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 7
// COVID-19 //
UKHSA estimates one in seven still infectious after five-day COVID-19 isolation
One in seven people who have tested positive for COVID-19 could still be infectious, if released from isolation upon receiving a negative lateral flow device (LFD) result after five days, data suggests.
Previously, individuals self-isolating in the UK were allowed to leave on day seven,
provided they had tested negative on two lateral flow tests in the previous 24 hours,
and did not have a fever. However, as of 17 January, quarantine time has been reduced to five days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated that he was in favour of this, if backed by scientific evidence.
A new report – not based on Omicron specific data – researched a number of isolation periods, including five days of self isolation followed by five lateral flow tests on days five to nine, with self-isolation ending after a single negative test result.
‘This increased the proportion of people [who are still] infectious when released from self-isolation from 5% to 15%,’ the study reported.
MHRA approves Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 antiviral pill
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the use of a second oral antiviral pill for COVID-19, which can be taken at home. The agency recommends taking the pill within five days of a patient’s first symptoms.
Pfizer’s Paxlovid can be given to those aged 18 years and older with mild tomoderate symptoms of COVID-19, who are also at risk of developing severe disease. High-risk categories include those with diabetes, heart disease, obesity and those over the age of 60.
The pill is to be taken orally twice a day for five days. Paxlovid is a mixture of two active ingredients, PF-07321332 and ritonavir, which acts by hindering a protease needed for the virus to replicate. These inhibitors are similar to those used to treat HIV, making the treatment beneficial for patients with weakened immune systems.
The MHRA has emphasised that Paxlovid is ‘not a substitute for vaccination’.
Kineret gets
CHMP positive
opinion for
COVID-19
pneumonia
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a
positive opinion of Kineret (anakinra), a treatment for COVID-19 disease in adult patients with pneumonia. The drug – by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) – is for patients with diseases requiring supplemental oxygen (low- or high-flow oxygen) who are at risk of progressing to severe respiratory failure.
CHMP’s positive opinion is based on results from the SAVE-MORE phase 3 clinical study, which found that early identification of candidate patients with
soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), followed by treatment with anakinra, resulted in a 64% relative reduction of patients progressing into severe disease and death.
The study also saw a 55% relative decrease in mortality, which reached 80% relative decrease in mortality for patients with cytokine storm. COVID-19
infection can lead to death due to an overreaction of the infected person’s inflammatory response, often referred to as a ‘cytokine storm’.