China approves country's first COVID-19 antibody treatment

China has approved the country's first COVID-19 antibody treatment, developed by a Tsinghua University professor and his team.

The treatment made of two monoclonal antibodies, Brii-196 and Brii-198, has shown an efficacy of 80% in cutting hospitalisations and deaths among high-risk patients in clinical trials, the research team announced on Thursday.

The treatment has been jointly developed by a research team led by Prof. Zhang of Tsinghua University's School of Medicine, a hospital in China's south city of Shenzhen and a Chinese bioscience company. The team has conducted very effective clinical trials at home and abroad in strict accordance with international standards.