People at a heightened risk of Covid-19 were given fresh hope on Saturday when an experimental alternative to a vaccine began late-stage trials in UK city of Manchester.
The drug, developed by industry heavyweight AstraZeneca, could be used to protect those with a weakened immune system.
The treatment differs from a vaccine because it introduces antibodies, rather than prompting the body's immune system to make them.
The phase three trial will be tested on 5,000 people across the US and Europe, with 1,000 being recruited in Manchester and the UK.
"What we are investigating in this study is whether we can provide protection by giving antibodies that have been shown to neutralise the virus, by injection into the muscle," said Professor Andrew Ustianowski, chief investigator on the UK study.
"The hope is that this will then provide good protection for many months against infection."
The cocktail combines two monoclonal antibodies and could also be used to treat and prevent progression of Covid-19 in those already infected.
Monoclonal antibodies mimic natural antibodies that the body generates to fight off infection. They can be synthesised in the laboratory and are already used to treat some types of cancer.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
