GSK and Vir's pre-clinical sotrovimab data suggest Omicron impact

GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Vir Biotechnology (Nasdaq: VIR) have announced pre-clinical data demonstrating that sotrovimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody, retains activity against key mutations of the new Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant.

These data were generated through pseudo-virus testing of specific individual mutations found in Omicron.

"Sotrovimab was deliberately designed with a mutating virus in mind"The companies have stressed that, to date, sotrovimab has demonstrated ongoing activity against all tested variants of concern and interest defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). They are now completing in vitro pseudo-virus testing to confirm the neutralizing activity of the drug against the combination of all the Omicron mutations, with the intent to provide an update within weeks.