COVID-19 Antibody Treatments Ineffective Against Stealth Omicron? [Reading Science]

Australian University of New South Wales Research Team Predicts Treatment Effect Only for 1 of 6 Existing Types
Early Administration Shows Better Treatment Effect for Existing COVID-19 Patients, Analysis Finds

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A study has found that administering antibody treatments early to COVID-19 patients can reduce the probability of hospitalization by up to 70%, showing significant effectiveness. However, it is predicted that only some antibody treatments will have limited effects against the rapidly increasing stealth Omicron variant.

According to the international academic journal Nature on the 31st, a research team from the University of New South Wales in Australia published these findings on the preprint site 'medRxiv' on the 22nd.

The research team analyzed data from 37 randomized controlled trials on six types of monoclonal antibodies used as treatments and antibodies extracted from the blood of patients who had recovered from COVID-19. The results showed that the earlier antibody treatments are administered after COVID-19 infection, the greater the effect.

According to the research team, early administration of antibody treatments can reduce hospitalization rates by up to around 70%. Additionally, the amount of expensive antibody treatments administered also decreased. When prescribed early, the amount of antibody treatment required to achieve effects similar to the usual method was reduced by at least 7 to 1000 times.

Monoclonal antibody treatments developed worldwide work by having natural immune cells attach to the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus, preventing it from infecting human cells.

The research team also predicted that among the six antibody treatments, only two?imdevimab and sotrovimab?would show limited effectiveness against the recently rapidly dominant Omicron subvariant, known as stealth Omicron. Among these, imdevimab reduces hospitalization probability by 60% only when administered in large amounts. Sotrovimab is estimated to reduce hospitalization probability by up to 63% against the Omicron variant but has less than 20% effectiveness in preventing severe illness from stealth Omicron.

Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunology at Yale University, said, "These research results are very useful for designing clinical trials that can help treat patients," adding, "Clinical trials will likely be necessary to determine whether drugs like imdevimab remain effective against stealth Omicron."