South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Tuesday its COVID-19 antibody treatment has won emergency approval from Australian authorities.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) granted provisional approval of Rekirona for the intravenous treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adult patients.

It is the fifth COVID-19 treatment to receive regulatory approval in Australia.

Rekirona is a monoclonal antibody with activity against COVID-19. A monoclonal antibody is a type of protein that has been designed to attach to a specific structure.

It takes the form of an intravenous injection that is directly injected for 60 minutes.

In February, Rekirona won the South Korean drug safety agency's conditional approval, becoming the first locally made treatment for COVID-19.

The drug won overseas approval for an emergency application by the European Medicines Agency. It has also been granted emergency use authorizations in Indonesia, Brazil and Peru.

Celltrion said Rekirona reduces the risk of COVID-19 progressing to severe levels. The company said the antibody treatment also reduced the recovery time. (Yonhap)