GSK says tests hint COVID drug fights Omicron

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithkline said Thursday that the antibody-based COVID-19 therapy that it is working on with U.S. partner Vir is likely effective in battling the Omicron variant.

The company pointed to lab tests and a study on hamsters that have demonstrated its antibody cocktail works against viruses that were bio-engineered to mimic the hallmark mutations of the latest coronavirus variant.

For confirmation, a so-called pseudovirus with all of the Omicron mutations is now being tested, with an update expected by the end of the year, Glaxo added in its statement.

In a separate development, British regulators on Thursday approved the use of that drug called sotrovimab.

The drug is for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 illness and who are at high risk of that morphing into severe disease.

Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended use of the drug as soon as possible and within five days of the onset of symptoms.

Sotrovimab is based on monoclonal antibodies, which are lab-made versions of natural antibodies the body generates to fight off infection. Similar products are offered or being developed by Eli Lilly, Regeneron and AstraZeneca.

Earlier this week, Regeneron said lab tests and computer modeling suggest that COVID-19 antibody drugs including its own would have reduced efficacy against the Omicron variant.

But Vir's CEO said Thursday that its drug "was deliberately designed with a mutating virus" like Omicron in mind.