In a 27 September The Japan Times article, it was reported that Japan has approved a monoclonal antibody-based treatment developed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC and US firm Vir Biotechnology Inc. after they applied to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.
The drug is called Sotrovimab and is given intravenously as a single dose. This is the fifth medicine that has been approved in Japan to treat Covid-19 cases that require hospitalisation for longer than 24 hours. A clinical trial involving 1,057 patients showed that the drug reduced the risk of death by 79 percent compared with a placebo.