Novartis to push ahead with Covid treatment after promising tests

Novartis facility at Ringaskiddy in Cork. The company is 'exercising an option' to license Ensovibep.

Novartis will push forward with a potential medicine for Covid-19 after promising results showing a lower risk of bad outcomes for patients who took the antiviral in a mid-sized study. The company employs 1,400 people in Cork and Dublin.

Covid patients who took the therapy, Ensovibep, had a 78% lower risk of needing an emergency healthcare visit, being hospitalised or dying in the 407-person test.