UPMC says new treatment Evusheld reduces covid risk for immunocompromised

UPMC doctors say they are encouraged by the effectiveness of a new, preventative monoclonal antibody treatment that is administered to immunocompromised people before they contract covid-19.

The two-shot Evusheld treatment received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in early December, and UPMC got its first doses later that month.

The drug — two shots given in the same appointment — is designed to prepare an immunocompromised person’s immune system to fight off the virus. AstraZeneca, which produced the medication, said it’s effective for at least six months and has a half-life that could stretch up to 12 months.

Dr. Stanley Marks, chairman of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, said immunocompromised people should still be vaccinated against covid-19. Evusheld offers a better layer of protection for people whose immune systems may not respond well to the standard vaccine, he said.

UPMC has limited supplies of the treatment and is contacting immunocompromised patients who are eligible to receive the shots, said Tami Minnier, chief quality and operational excellence officer at UPMC. They are working to get the treatment to the people who need it most and to distribute the limited doses “in the fairest way possible,” she said.

UPMC is choosing recipients in a lottery style that prioritizes the most immunocompromised patients.

Patients cannot schedule appointments unless they are first contacted by UPMC, she said.

Eligible recipients include people who have had organ transplants, as well as those with connective tissue diseases, certain types of cancer and HIV, Marks said.

Marks said the treatment does not have any serious side effects and appears to be “very effective” against all variants of the coronavirus.

“What we expect is that your immune system will be much more ready and you will have a mild, if not asymptomatic, experience with (covid-19),” said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief medical officer.

He cited an example of a lymphoma patient who had received three doses of the covid-19 vaccine, but still couldn’t produce antibodies to fight off covid-19. He was doing everything possible to minimize his exposure, and Marks even encouraged him to not attend his daughter’s wedding to avoid potentially coming into contact with the virus.

“Then Evusheld became available and we offered Evusheld to my patient,” Marks said. “ While Evusheld will not completely eliminate his risk of getting covid, it certainly significantly diminished it. I’m happy to say he was able to walk his daughter down the aisle.”

UPMC has administered about 1,000 doses of Evusheld so far, Minnier said. The health system said it just received a larger supply.

In a clinical trial, Evusheld recipients saw a 77% reduced risk of contracting covid-19, compared with a group that received a placebo.

“We are looking to continue to see those numbers (of doses) grow in the coming weeks,” she said, explaining that UPMC is notified by the federal and state government on a weekly basis about how much of the medicine they’ll receive.

Jackie Hanson, 66, of Greensburg, was among the first UPMC patients to receive a dose of Evusheld. The former nurse is fighting lupus, leukemia and thyroid cancer.

She said she was taking down Christmas decorations when she got a call from UPMC, telling her she could get a dose of the treatment.

“My heart was going. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning who got the gift I wanted under the tree,” Hanson said, adding that she and her husband were high-fiving and celebrating.

She got the shots last Wednesday.

“I feel like I can hug my grandkids without the fear I had before,” she said. “I still have to be cautious because of the flu and colds, things like that. But as far as covid, it has lifted some of the fear for me.”

She’s now sharing her experience with other immunocompromised friends, encouraging them to get Evusheld when they can. She would like to see the treatment become more easily accessible.

“For those of us who are immunocompromised, it’s a shot of life,” she said.

There is no cost for the medication itself, though there may be costs for administering it, Minnier said. That cost is covered by many insurers, including UPMC.

For people not eligible for Evusheld, along with those who do get the monoclonal antibody treatment, Yealy said it’s important to continue focusing on the mitigation measures that have been emphasized throughout the pandemic. He encouraged people get vaccinated, wear masks and get tested if they’re sick.

“The virus still has the ability to harm and it remains in our communities today,” Yealy said. “We still don’t know what the future holds with covid-19 infections and serious illness. This is not the time to let up.”