By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Vir Biotechnology stock (NASDAQ:VIR) climbed 14% Wednesday after the company said it has more data showing that its Covid-19 antibody therapy is effective against the Omicron variant.
Labelled "of concern" by the World Health Organization, Omicron has been reported in more than 60 countries, including China, and now dominates the Delta variant in many nations. Said to be spreading faster than Delta, Omicron has forced countries in Europe and Australia to bring back restrictions on the movement of people and business activities.
The company said sotrovimab, the investigational SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibody it developed with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), has also been designed to achieve high concentration in the lungs to ensure optimal penetration into airway tissues affected by the virus and to have an extended half-life. ADRs of GSK traded 0.3% higher.
According to Vir, there are five more preclinical monoclonal antibodies, also developed with GSK, which retained their in vitro neutralizing activity against Omicron.
The findings have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.