Daily Times

GSK said on Tuesday that its COVID-19 antibody-based therapy, developed with VIR Biotechnology in the United States, is effective against all mutations of the new Omicron coronavirus strain, citing new findings from early-stage tests.

GSK said in a statement that the evidence, which has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical publication, reveals that the firms’ medication, sotrovimab, is effective against all 37 reported spike protein mutations to date.

Last week, another pre-clinical data showed that the drug had worked against key mutations of the Omicron variant. Sotrovimab is designed to latch on to the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, but Omicron has been found to have an unusually high number of mutations on that protein.

“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,” GSK Chief Scientific Officer Hal Barron said.

GSK and VIR have created so-called pseudoviruses with substantial coronavirus alterations in all suspect types that have surfaced so far, and have tested their vulnerability to sotrovimab treatment in the lab.