Study suggests GSK’s Covid antibody treatment works against Omicron

Given the less than three-fold drop in neutralization during tests, “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,” said George Scangos, Chief Executive Officer of Vir Biotechnology Inc., the drug’s co-developer.

Sotrovimab reduced the risk of hospitalization and death in people with mild to moderate Covid by 79% in trials. The drug won clearance from U.K. regulators this month.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

“The 3-fold reduction in sotrovimab’s ability to neutralize omicron in analysis conducted by GlaxoSmithKline’s partner Vir Biotechnology should still mean a substantial level of efficacy vs. the variant — though we have yet to see the details — especially given the potential to dose at higher levels if needed. We continue to expect that the drop in activity for sotrovimab — and that of AstraZeneca’s AZD7442 — will be less severe than that of Eli Lilly-AbCellera and Roche-Regeneron’s antibodies. Glaxo’s 750,000 doses in committed contracts with various governments could equate to $1.5 billion of sales.”