'Stealth Omicron', No Effect from Any Existing Antibody Therapeutics [Reading Science]

Recent Studies Released
US Grants Emergency Approval for New Antibody Treatment
WHO: "Toxicity Similar to Original"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Research results are emerging that monoclonal antibody treatments developed so far are almost ineffective for patients infected with the 'BA.2' variant, known as the 'Stealth Omicron,' a COVID-19 variant.

A research team at New York University reported these findings in a preprint paper posted on the biology preprint site 'bioRxiv' on the 15th. The NYU team stated in the paper, "The BA.2 variant was confirmed to be resistant to neutralization by sotrovimab and Evusheld, which were effective against the previous BA.1 variant." The team also emphasized, "It is difficult to find antibody treatments that have broad effectiveness against COVID-19 viruses, highlighting the increased importance of T-cells, which viruses find harder to evade."

The researchers added, "During the rapid global spread and dominance of the 'original' Omicron variant (BA.1) since November last year, monoclonal antibody treatments developed by Regeneron and Eli Lilly became ineffective, but sotrovimab and Evusheld were confirmed to be effective." They further noted, "The BA.2 variant has been found to have additional mutations in the human host spike protein compared to the original, resulting in increased transmissibility."

Similar results have been reported elsewhere. A research team at Columbia University also published a paper on the same site on the 7th, confirming that the BA.2 variant is resistant to 17 out of 19 monoclonal antibody treatments developed so far. Notably, sotrovimab, which was virtually the only monoclonal antibody treatment effective against the Omicron variant, showed no efficacy against the BA.2 variant. The team pointed out, "These experimental results demonstrate that none of the currently developed monoclonal antibody treatments are effective against Omicron variants."

In this context, recent reports indicate that U.S. health authorities have granted emergency use authorization for a new antibody treatment, bebtelovimab, which has been confirmed to be effective against both the existing BA.1 and BA.2 variants. So far, the original BA.1 variant remains dominant in most countries worldwide, including the U.S. and the U.K. However, infections with the BA.2 variant are rapidly increasing in countries such as Denmark, India, and China.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported on the 22nd that the BA.2 variant is more transmissible than the original but has a similar severity rate.