UW Health gets oral COVID treatment doses, doctor discusses

MILWAUKEE - UW Health, like many hospital systems, will be allocated doses of the recently authorized oral therapeutics to treat COVID-19.

Like current treatment options, though, supplies will be extremely limited.

These new pills – and two previously authorized antibody treatments, which studies have shown are likely to be effective against the omicron variant – include:

• Sotrovimab: A monoclonal antibody treatment for patients who have COVID-19
• Paxlovid, molnupiravir: Oral antiviral pills for patients who have COVID-19
• Evusheld: A preventative treatment (prophylaxis) for vaccinated patients with weakened immune systems or those unable to get a COVID-19 vaccine for medical reasons

"The molnupiravir pill actually messes up the viruses RNA, so it can’t be a functional virus," said UW Health Dr. Bartho Caponi. "The Paxlovid prevents the virus from reproducing."

Patients looking for more information on the new treatments can learn more on the UW Health website. Patients who test positive for COVID-19 may request treatment through a patient survey; those without internet access can call UW Health’s dedicated hotline at 608-720-3319. The hotline is intended for those who are unable to fill out the survey to ensure those who need to use it can get through.

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Patients who are most at risk for severe illness will be selected first and contacted directly. Patients should not call their primary care providers or clinic following up on their survey requests.

"We’re looking at people who are least likely to respond to a vaccination because of immunosuppression, cancer something like that – or people who aren’t vaccinated and at the highest risk of becoming sick and or dying of COVID infections," said Caponi.

Patients interested in Evusheld should contact the provider managing their condition or current prescription that weakens their immune system. The Evusheld preventative treatment can only be obtained through a physician prescription, and it is not a substitute for vaccination.

While the new treatments represent a positive step forward, supplies made available at this time, particularly the antiviral pills, are extremely limited, according to Caponi.

"With every limited therapy, we’ve seen supplies increase over time," Caponi said. "The question of whether it will be effective down the road, we won’t know until we get there."

In December 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of the first two oral antiviral pills – Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir – to treat a COVID-19 infection. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced the new pills will be allocated to hospitals and pharmacies throughout the state starting this week.

On Wednesday, UW Health received equal numbers of both pills to treat a total of 40 patients. UW Health previously received doses of GlaskoSmithKline’s sotrovimab, which was authorized by the FDA in May 2021, and AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, which was authorized in early December 2021.

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