WASHINGTON, Nov 17 — The United States has signed contracts worth roughly US$1 billion (RM4.18 billion) to secure the antibody-based Covid-19 treatment sotrovimab from GSK and Vir Biotechnology, the drugmakers said on Wednesday, with supply expected by Dec. 17.

Britain’s GSK said the deal brought the total number of doses secured of the treatment, branded Xevudy, to more than 750,000 globally, adding that the United States would have an option to buy additional doses through March 2022.

The companies did not specify how many doses the US government had signed up for.

The US Food and Drug Administration in May gave an emergency use authorisation to the GSK-Vir treatment for treating mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in people aged 12 years and older, who are at the risk of their illness worsening. — Reuters