Omicron: Covid-19 antibody treatment ‘holds up well’ against new strain, Brii Biosciences says
- Cocktail of two antibodies, administered by infusion, is the first therapy of its type approved for use in China
- Company says one antibody had ‘substantial drop in activity’ against the new variant in lab tests, the other wasn’t impacted
Brii Biosciences on Sunday also again said its therapy “retains activity” against major coronavirus strains including the highly transmissible Delta variant and its sub-lineage Delta Plus.
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The National Medical Products Administration granted approval for the combination of two antibodies to be used for adults who are at high risk of developing severe Covid-19, which could lead to hospital admission or death, and conditional approval for patients aged 12 to 17.
Brii Bio has also said the Food and Drug Administration in the United States was reviewing its application for emergency use authorisation.
The treatment, administered by infusion, combines two neutralising monoclonal antibodies. They are laboratory-made protein molecules that can act like human antibodies and are created by cloning and combining antibodies found in recovered patients in China.
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The company said while one of the antibodies showed “a substantial drop in activity” against Omicron in tests by independent laboratories, the other one “was not impacted” by the highly mutated variant.
“The Omicron variant remains susceptible to neutralisation by the … combination,” Brii Bio said. “Together, the combination therapy retains neutralising activity against the Omicron variant.”
It said the data would be presented in scientific publications in the near future.
David Margolis, vice-president and head of infectious diseases therapy at Brii Bio, said the combination therapy “potentially provides a more durable treatment option against Covid-19 variants in the long term”.
The company last week said lab testing data suggested that the treatment “retains activity” against major coronavirus variants, including Alpha, Beta and Delta.
It added that nearly 900 patients in China had been given the treatment.
“The drug is working as many Covid-19 patients with severe conditions in Yunnan, Qinghai and other places have reacted to the drug well,” China’s top respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CGTN on Sunday.
