GSK antibody treatment effective against Omicron, study suggests
pharmafile | December 7, 2021 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |
GlaxoSmithKline Plc have shared that research shows its antibody treatment is effective against the range of mutations in the recently-emerged Omicron variant. The drug, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 cases, has suggested efficacy in combatting the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the second batch of positive pre-clinical data.
“From the outset of our collaboration with Vir, we hypothesised that sotrovimab would have a high barrier to resistance and thus could deliver best-in-class potential for the early treatment of patients with COVID-19,” Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, GSK, shared. “These pre-clinical data demonstrate the potential for our monoclonal antibody to be effective against the latest variant, Omicron, plus all other variants of concern defined to date by the WHO, and we look forward to discussing these results with regulatory authorities around the world.”
Tests conducted in-vitro against a pseudo-virus that recreates a synthesised version of Omicron indicated that sotrovimab, Glaxo’s antibody treatment for COVID-19, targets all mutations in the spike protein of the Omicron variant. This includes the key mutations as well as others, the drugmakers shared. The tests included all 37 mutations identified to-date in the spike protein. The data is set to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
George Scangos, PhD, CEO of Vir, shared: “Sotrovimab is the first monoclonal antibody to report preclinical data demonstrating activity against all tested SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and interest to date, including Omicron, as well as the still prevalent and highly contagious Delta variant. Given the less than three-fold neutralisation shift demonstrated in the pre-clinical pseudo-virus assay, which falls below the FDA authorised fact sheet guidance of less than a 5-fold change, we are confident that sotrovimab will continue to provide significant benefit for the early treatment of patients hoping to avoid the most severe consequences of COVID-19.”
Ana Ovey
