Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has said that Japan had become the first country to fully approve its Ronapreve antibody treatment for patients with mild to moderate Covid-19.

The approval was based on phase 3 trials finding that the antibody cocktail dramatically reduced the likelihood that mild or moderate Covid patients would develop into serious illness causing hospitalisation or death, AFP reports.

Ronapreve, developed in cooperation with US biotech firm Regeneron, was approved by Japan's ministry of health, labour and welfare, Roche said in a statement, confirming it was the “first country” to do so.

“Ronapreve has been shown to improve survival in high risk, non-hospitalised Covid-19 patients by reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death,” Roche chief medical officer and product development chief Levi Garraway said in a statement.