During the press conference on Monday evening, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert conveyed that Luxembourg has not yet taken any steps to purchase the treatment medication, but was still awaiting approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Former US president Donald Trump was famously treated with an antibody cocktail when he contracted the coronavirus last year. At the time, the medication was still considered experimental and not available to the public.
Germany is now the first EU member to have purchased antibody medication from two different US manufacturers, a combined total of 200,000 doses. Estimated costs of the order are €400 million, meaning that each dose will cost around €2,000.
The antibody medication is mainly put to use during the early stages of a positive infection for people who are presumed to struggle with the virus. This means that the treatment works as a preventive measure and no longer has an effect once a patient needs to be hospitalised and ventilated.
