GlaxoSmithKline, a United Kingdom pharmaceutical company has said that a pre-clinical examination of its antibody-based COVID-19 therapy developed with U.S. partner Vir has produced positive results against newly identified Omicron variant.
This was disclosed in a statement by the pharmaceutical company on Thursday.
GlaxoSmithKline in the statement said that further tests will be carried out on the Sotrovimab therapy to firm up the results.
Chief Executive Officer of Vir, George Scangos, 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 development is happening after the UK’s drug regulator okayed GSK and Vir Biotechnology’s Xevudy treatment after findings showed it to be safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection.
The antibody therapy reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 79 per cent in high-risk adults with symptomatic COVID-19 infection during its clinical trials.
The UK has earlier on ordered around 100,000 doses of the drug. It’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said it would work with GSK to establish if Omicron will have any impact on its efficacy.
Meanwhile, Sotrovimab is authorized for emergency use in the United States and in Japan, and has been approved via the Special Approval for Emergency Pathway.
The Omicron variant which was first identified in South Africa, has been listed as a ‘variant of concern’ and said it could take several weeks to know if there are significant changes in transmissibility, severity or implications for COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments.
The new mutation, which shows resistance to the vaccine and built up immunity, has been identified in multiple countries including Nigeria.
This has led to multiple flight bans and red list placements as governments look for ways to contain the spread of the new variant.
