The safety of antivirals and neutralising monoclonal antibodies used in prehospital treatment of Covid-19

J Infect. 2024 Sep;89(3):106227. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106227. Epub 2024 Jul 15.

Abstract

Objective: This proof-of-principle pharmacovigilance study used Electronic Health Record (EHR) data to examine the safety of sotrovimab, paxlovid and molnupiravir in prehospital treatment of Covid-19.

Method: With NHS England approval, we conducted an observational cohort study using OpenSAFELY-TPP, a secure software-platform which executes analyses across EHRs for 24 million people in England. High-risk individuals with Covid-19 eligible for prehospital treatment were included. Adverse events (AEs) were categorised into events in the drug's Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC), drug-reactions and immune-mediated. Cox models compared risk across treatments. A pre-pandemic record analysis was performed for comparative purposes.

Results: Between 2021-2023, 37,449 patients received sotrovimab, paxlovid or molnupiravir whilst 109,647 patients made up an eligible-but-untreated population. The 28-day rates of AEs were low: SmPC 0.34 per 1000 patient-years (95% CI 0.32-0.36); drug-reactions 0.01 (95% CI 0.01-0.02) and immune-mediated 0.03 (95% CI 0.03-0.04), and similar or lower than the pre-pandemic period. Compared with the eligible but untreated population, sotrovimab and paxlovid associated with a risk of SmPC AE [adjHR 1.36 (95% CI 1.15-1.62) and 1.28 (95% CI 1.05-1.55), respectively], whilst sotrovimab associated with a risk of drug-reactions [adjHR 2.95 (95% CI 1.56-5.55)] and immune-mediated events [adjHR 3.22 (95% CI 1.86-5.57)].

Conclusion: Sotrovimab, paxlovid and molnupiravir demonstrate acceptable safety profiles. Although the risk of AEs was greatest with sotrovimab, event rates were lower than comparative pre-pandemic period.

Keywords: Anti-viral; Covid-19; Pharmacovigilance.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / adverse effects
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / adverse effects
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / blood
  • Antiviral Agents* / adverse effects
  • Antiviral Agents* / therapeutic use
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology
  • COVID-19 Drug Treatment*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cytidine / adverse effects
  • Cytidine / analogs & derivatives
  • Cytidine / therapeutic use
  • England / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hydroxylamines
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • SARS-CoV-2* / immunology
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • molnupiravir
  • sotrovimab
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Cytidine
  • Hydroxylamines