AstraZeneca (AZN.L) on Thursday cemented its lead in bringing a preventative COVID-19 shot for the non-infected to market for people who do not respond well to vaccines, saying its antibody-drug cocktail offered 83% protection over six months.

This treatment, given in an injectable form and called AZD7442 or Evusheld, had previously been shown to provide 77% protection against symptomatic disease after three months, in a previous display of the results of the PROVENT final stage test in August.

The British-Swedish company also reported that a separate trial, conducted in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, showed that a higher dose of AZD7442 reduced the risk of worsening symptoms by 88% when given within three days of the onset of symptoms.

“These new data add to the growing body of evidence supporting the ability of AZD7442 to make a significant difference in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19,” said Mene Pangalos, the company’s executive vice president.

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