A Merseyside man has become the first person in the region to receive the newest covid drug.
Phil McConnell, 73, from St Helens received the new drug Sotrovimab at 10am this morning at Newton Hospital.
Sotrovimab, also known as Xevundy, was first approved for UK use three weeks ago for anyone aged 12 and over.
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It is authorised for use in people who have a mild or moderate covid infection and who are at risk of developing severe illness.
Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody given as a transfusion to transplant recipients, cancer patients and other high-risk groups.
If given quickly after symptoms develop it is believed that it will help prevent people from falling seriously ill with covid.
Phil, who was diagnosed with cancer five years ago, was the first person in both the Merseyside and Cheshire regions to be invited for a dose of the Sotrovimab which was administered by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's Community IV Therapy Team.
Phil, who is from Haydock, said: “Because of cancer my immune system isn’t what it should be, so I am very pleased to be getting this treatment which will reduce my risk of needing to go to hospital and stop me worrying so much."
Since receiving his diagnosis, a spokesperson for NHS confirmed Phil is now "doing well" in his journey.
Dr Ted Adams, the programmes Clinical Lead for Cheshire and Merseyside, said: "This treatment is our latest important weapon in the battle against the virus.
“If you test positive, have symptoms and are at high risk then the NHS will contact you, and, if eligible, you will be able to get access to this new treatment."
To date most Covid treatments have focused on patients already in hospital with the disease, this includes the steroid dexamethasone and the arthritis drug Tocilizumab.
Now a second generation of covid drugs, including Sotrovimab, are being introduced which are aimed at vulnerable patients at an earlier stage of infection.
Initial clinical trials suggest Sotrovimab, developed by London-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Vir Biotechnology, is thought to reduce the risk of hospitalisation in high risk patients by 79 percent.
The makers also say preclinical data shows the drug "retains activity against key mutations of the new Omicron variant", though more checks are still needed to confirm this.
Around 1.3 million of the highest risk NHS patients are eligible to receive Sotrovimab, along with other new Covid treatments as they become available.
The drug is most effective if taken in the first five days after infection and will be given in clinics or to outpatients in hospital.
