BARICITINIB AND SOTROVIMAB Â Â Â Â Â
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Context
- The World Health Organization (WH0) has recommended two drugs, baricitinib and sotrovimab, for treatment of Covid-19.
The drugs
Baricitinib
- Baricitinib is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
- It has been “strongly recommended” for patients with severe or critical Covid-19 in combination with corticosteroids.
- It is part of a class of drugs called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors that suppress the overstimulation of the immune system.
- It is an oral drug, and provides an alternative to other arthritis drugs called Interleukin-6 receptor blockers, recommended by WHO in 2021.
Sotrovimab
- Sotrovimab is an investigational monoclonal antibody for use in treating conditions caused by coronavirus.
- The WHO has conditionally recommended its use for treating mild or moderate Covid-19 in patients who are at high risk of hospitalisation.
- These include patients who are older, are immunocompromised, and have underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension and obesity, and are unvaccinated.
Monoclonal antibodies
About
- To fight a viral infection, our bodies create proteins known as antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies are artificial antibodies that mimic the activity of our immune systems. In a nutshell, Monoclonal antibodies are man-made proteins that act like human antibodies in the immune system.
Production
- They are produced through a process that involves extracting specific antibodies from human blood and then cloning them.
Purpose
- These monoclonal antibodies are designed to target a virus or a specific part of one — for instance, REGEN-COV2 is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies developed to target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
Binding
- The monoclonal antibodies bind to specific parts of the spike protein, blocking its ability to infect healthy cells.
Use
- Besides Covid-19, monoclonal antibodies have been used in the treatment of cancers as well as Ebola and HIV.
Read more here: https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/monoclonal-antibody-cocktail
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-covid-drugs-baricitinib-sotrovimab-7723993/