Bhubaneswar: The state government has decided to make available a cocktail of antibody drugs for treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Following permission of Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the government has decided to make available the Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b (PegIFN) & casirivimab and imdevimab (antibody cocktail) drugs for the use by the prescribing physicians strictly complying with the indication and requirement under EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) regulations.
Additional Chief Secretary, Health, PK Mohapatra has written to heads of all medical institutions in this regard, Tuesday.
The drugs will be kept in stock at Odisha State Medical Corporation Ltd (OSMCL) and other selected distribution sites. The drugs will be issued against the requisition by the prescribing physician through superintendent and chief district medical officers (CDMOs), he said.
The drug is a cocktail of two antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, which is used for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 in adults and paediatric patients (12 or older) who are at high risk of developing severe disease.
The antibody cocktail shot into the limelight after it was used to treat former United States President Donald Trump last year. The therapy is said to reduce the chance of hospitalisation by 70 per cent in patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms.
This comes a day after the Union Health Ministry dropped the use of Ivermectin, Doxycycline and Hydroxychloroquine from its Covid-19 treatment guidelines.
The revised guidelines have also dropped zinc and multivitamins that were earlier prescribed by doctors to treat asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients.
The new guidelines stressed on the importance of abiding by Covid-19 appropriate behaviour such as mask, strict hand hygiene, and physical distancing. The ministry further advised people who experience Covid symptoms to seek teleconsultations and to consume a healthy balanced diet with proper hydration.
