Laboratory analysis of the anti-body drug which is being developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Vir shows that it is also effective against the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The British drugmaker, GSK said it in a statement. It said that lab tests have shown the sotrovimab antibody works against viruses that were bio-engineered to carry a number of mutations of the Omicron variant.
“Sotrovimab was deliberately designed with a mutating virus in mind," said Vir Chief Executive George Scangos, as the drug was developed targeting a region of the spike protein that was not expected to mutate.
George Scangos, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Vir, said: “Sotrovimab was deliberately designed with a mutating virus in mind. By targeting a highly conserved region of the spike protein that is less likely to mutate, we hoped to address both the current SARS-CoV-2 virus and future variants that we expected would be inevitable. This hypothesis has borne out again and again – with its ongoing ability to maintain activity against all tested variants of concern and interest to date, including key mutations found in Omicron, as demonstrated by preclinical data. We have every expectation that this positive trend will continue and are working rapidly to confirm its activity against the full combination sequence of Omicron.”
Sotrovimab is an investigational SARS-CoV-2 neutralising monoclonal antibody. It is authorised for emergency use in the United States.
"We are pleased that this treatment option is available to patients in the US and many other countries, and are working to expand access worldwide.” said Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, GSK.