Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases could be given prophylactic anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies to lower their risk of severe disease, say French researchers.

Results from their world-first study published in The Lancet Rheumatology suggest that one third of severely immunocompromised individuals fail to mount an adequate humoral response to vaccination.

It is these patients, the authors explain, who stand to benefit from pre-exposure treatment with the anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody combination of tixagevimab and cilgavimab.

The University of Paris-led team analysed data from 165 adults (mean age 48) with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases — 70 of whom were severely immunocompromised — and were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.