GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology have said the final results from a late-stage study of their monoclonal antibody confirmed it significantly reduced hospitalisation and death among high-risk Covid-19 patients when given early in the disease, Reuters reported.

The treatment, sotrovimab, received an emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration in May, while the European Union's drug regulator has also backed it.

The drugmakers also said the US National Institutes of Health has recommended sotrovimab to treat high-risk, non-hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19.