VERY GOOD NEWS FOR US12 Feb 2022 04:38
COVID SCIENCE-Spreading version of Omicron resists all but one drug; T cell defense vs Omicron deficient in some
Fri, 11th Feb 2022 23:30
Thomson Reuters
(Updates headline and first item after FDA approval of Lilly
drug bebtelovimab)
By Nancy Lapid
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of some recent
studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further
study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be
certified by peer review.
Spreading version of Omicron resists all but one new drug
Until Friday, just one COVID-19 antibody drug has been
effective against the Omicron variant - sotrovimab from Vir
Biotechnology and GSK - and that drug is
unlikely to do as well against at least one new version of the
variant spreading globally, new research suggests.
An antibody drug approved on Friday by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration does show promise when tested against
"sublineages," or subvariants, of Omicron, the research found.
The World Health Organization is monitoring several Omicron
subvariants. Data posted on Wednesday on bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.07.479306v1
ahead of peer review showed that the rapidly spreading BA.2
subvariant "exhibited marked resistance" to sotrovimab in lab
experiments, researchers said. Britain-based GSK announced on
Thursday, without formally releasing any data, that its drug
does retain the ability to neutralize BA.2 in a test tube. David
Ho of Columbia University, senior author of the bioRxiv report,
said his research "also showed that sotrovimab still has
activity against BA.2, consistent with their statement. But its
activity is down substantially, 27-fold as stated in our
preprint." In repeat experiments, the drop was even more
pronounced, he said of testing done after the paper was
submitted.
The drug approved on Friday - bebtelovimab, from Eli Lilly,
remained potent in neutralizing all Omicron subvariants, Ho's
team said.
Two antibody drugs from AstraZeneca - cilgavimab and
tixagevimab - did remain effective against BA.2, but they are
only approved for preventing COVID-19 in certain circumstances,
not for treating it.
Second-line Omicron immune defense deficient in some people
T cells, a key component of the body's immune defenses, may
not work well against the Omicron variant in some people,
according to new research.
T cells learn to recognize germs either during natural
infection or after vaccination. When invading organisms slip
past antibodies, T cells launch an attack to prevent severe
illness. Researchers studying 76 volunteers found that most
individuals' T cells continued to defend against Omicron even
when their antibodies did not, regardless of the source of the
antibodies, including from booster shots. But about 20% of
people had more than a 50% reduction in their T cell response to
Omicron, compared to responses to earlier variants, the
researchers reported in Cell http
Sign In
Follow the stocks
