The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ended its emergency authorization for the only remaining Covid-19 antibody therapy cleared for use, saying variants that render it ineffective are now dominant in the United States.

Eli Lilly, the maker of bebtelovimab, has stopped the commercial distribution of the treatment, the FDA said. Various companies are working on updated antibody therapies, but none appears close to being authorized.

The BQ [variants] are also undermining the effectiveness of Evusheld, a type of pre-exposure therapy that provides an extra boost of protection for people who struggle to generate a strong immune response when vaccinated. For now, Evusheld continues to have emergency use authorization from the FDA, though the agency warned last month about the emergence of variants that are not neutralized by Evusheld.

Without bebtelovimab and Evusheld, some 7 million immunocompromised Americans will lose powerful defenses. There are other treatments available, including the oral antiviral Paxlovid, but many people — including transplant recipients — are on medications that can’t be taken at the same time as Paxlovid.

"We have had the tools!"

Can't believe that treatments that were once effective are no longer effective, who could have possibly seen this as a consequence of letting COVID rip?