bahrain
Medical teams tend to old people at a home vaccination service in Manama. Image Credit: Courtesy: Bahraini Health Ministry

Dubai: Bahrain’s National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) has approved the emergency use of a new drug by Regeneron in collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.

The new drug “REGN-COV2” contains a combination of Casirivimab and Imdevimab, which are monoclonal antibodies, designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells to neutralise the virus.

The drug has been added to the list of approved drugs by Bahrain for treatment of COVID-19 using antibody testing technology.

Earlier this month, Bahrain granted the emergency use of ‘Sotrovimab’, a new drug developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to treat people infected with the COVID-19.

The decision to add ‘Sotrovimab’ to COVID-19 treatment protocols follows approval for emergency use by the FDA as well as a comprehensive review of GSK’s clinical trials, Bahrain news agency said.

Over the past few months, Bahrain has been witnessing an upward trend in the daily COVID-19 infections.

Of the 14,504 COVID-19 tests carried out yesterday, 547 new cases have been detected, taking the total number of COVID-19 infections in the kingdom to 261,501.

The dealdly virus has also claimed 12 more lives in the country, taking the death toll up to 1,271. There are currently 226 cases in a critical condition, and 205 cases receiving treatment.