Skip to content
Business
Prognosis

Novartis Seeks Nod for Covid Drug in U.S. Before Final Test

  • Swiss drugmaker aims to seek expedited clearance next month
  • It’s too early to call Covid endemic, CEO says in interview
Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.

Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.

Photographer: Gianluca Colla/Bloomberg

By

Updated on

Novartis AG will seek to bring its experimental Covid-19 drug to patients without waiting for results from a large clinical trial, Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan said, potentially giving governments another option to battle the latest pandemic onslaught. 

The Swiss pharma giant aims to request an emergency-use authorization for the compound, ensovibep, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the next month, Narasimhan said in an interview. A larger study to confirm promising data that emerged this week could be finished by the second half of the year, he said.