By Adria Calatayud

AstraZeneca PLC said Tuesday that it has started a Phase 1 clinical trial of AZD7442, a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.

The British pharmaceutical giant, which is separately developing a Covid-19 vaccine together with researchers at the University of Oxford, said the trial will assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the combination.

Should it achieve favorable results, AstraZeneca will move the treatment into late-stage Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials to evaluate its efficacy as a potential preventative and treatment approach against Covid-19, it said.

The trial will include up to 48 healthy participants in the U.K. aged 18 to 55 years, AstraZeneca said.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority are providing funding for the trial, the company said. 



  Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com