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GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) says initial tests of the antibody-based Covid-19 therapy it is developing with US partner Vir suggest the drug is effective against the Omicron variant. A GSK statement on Thursday (December 2) said that lab tests and a study on hamsters have demonstrated the sotrovimab antibody cocktail to work against viruses that were bio-engineered to carry a number of hallmark mutations of the new variant. The tests are continuing to confirm the results against all of the Omicron mutations, with an update expected by the end of the year, it added. The antibody is designed to latch on to the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, but Omicron has been found to have an unusually high amount of mutations on that protein. "Sotrovimab was deliberately designed with a mutating virus in mind," said Vir chief executive George Scangos, adding that the drug was targeting a region of the spike protein that was highly unlikely to mutate.

British drugmaker GSK said on Tuesday (December 7) its antibody-based Covid-19 therapy with US partner Vir Biotechnology is effective against all mutations of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, citing new data from early-stage studies. The data, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, shows that the companies' treatment, sotrovimab, is effective against all 37 identified mutations to date in the spike protein, GSK said in a statement. Last week, another pre-clinical data showed that the drug had worked against key mutations of the Omicron variant. Sotrovimab is designed to latch on to the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, but Omicron has been found to have an unusually high number of mutations on that protein. "These pre-clinical data demonstrate the potential for our monoclonal antibody to be effective against the latest variant, Omicron, plus all other variants of concern defined to date by the WHO," GSK chief scientific officer Hal Barron said.