The UK’s “most vulnerable” hospital patients, who are unable to build up an antibody response to Covid, will be offered new drug Ronapreve from Monday.
The new Covid treatment, approved just last month, uses a pair of laboratory-made antibodies to attack the virus.
It was famously used as part of the suite of experimental medicines given to US President Donald Trump last year.
The antibody cocktail has been shown to reduce hospital stays by four days and cut the risk of death by a fifth.
The government said it had secured sufficient supply of the new therapeutic for eligible NHS patients across the four nations to cover the forthcoming winter.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he was “thrilled it will be saving lives from as early as next week”.
“The UK is leading the world in identifying and rolling out life-saving medicines, particularly for Covid 19, and we will continue our vital work to find the best treatments available to save lives and protect the NHS,” he said.
