Significance of Evusheld’s Effect in Multiple Sclerosis: Svetlana P. Eckert, MD

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

“We looked at patients 31 patients who received Evusheld and 126 control patients, some of which were seronegative for the antibodies. Those patients who did not receive Evusheld had a much higher rate of infection with COVID. Breakthrough infection was 34% in that group, as opposed to only 6% in the patients who received Evusheld."

In December 2021, the FDA approved Evusheld (AstraZeneca)for emergency use as pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in certain adults and pediatric patients.¹ The therapy is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, tixagevimab and cilgavimab, and is authorized for those not currently infected with the virus. Application of Evusheld requires patients who have either moderate to severely compromised immune systems, because of a medical condition or a history of severe adverse reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine.

Svetlana P. Eckert, MD, and colleagues recently presented an abstract poster on efficacy of Evusheld in preventing breakthrough COVID-19 infections for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the 2023 Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum, February 23-25, in San Diego, California.² The research was conducted as patients with neuroinflammatory diseases treated with immunosuppressive therapies are shown to be at higher risk of more severe COVID-19 outcomes and significant seroconversion reduction after a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Eckert, clinical assistant professor of neurology at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, New York sat down with NeurologyLive® at ACTRIMS to provide a brief overview of her study. She shared her motivations with going about the research, as well as her initial reaction to the significance of the findings. In addition, Eckert explained why using Evusheld is an effective approach, and its potential in treating other neurological disorders. She concluded on sharing the next steps with building upon the current research such as with education about this treatment.

Click here for more coverage of ACTRIMS 2023.

REFERENCES
1. Conte WL, Golzarri-Arroyo L. Tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld) boosts antibody levels in SARS-CoV-2 in patients with multiple sclerosis on b-cell depleters. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2022;63:103905. doi:10.1016/j.msard.2022.103905.
2. Eckert S, Jakimovski D, Mirmosayyeb O, et al. Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab: Evusheld