On Thursday, two medical outfits made news for their unique advancements dealing with the spread of the COVID-19 virus and its variants.
First, is clinical-stage biotech company
Molecular Partners AG (NASDAQ: MOLN, Forum), who, under its paretner, requested Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for
ensovibep, a DARPin (Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins) antiviral therapeutic candidate to treat COVID-19.
MOLN is developing a new class of custom-built protein drugs known as DARPin therapeutics. Ensovibep is designed specifically to inhibit target cell entry of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Also making headlines is commercial-stage immunology company
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIR, Forum), who announced that preclinical data suggests that sotrovimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody authorized for emergency use in the United States, retains neutralizing activity against the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron.
In
a media release on this news, the Vir team explained that sotrovimab is an investigational SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibody. The antibody binds to SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 (the virus that causes SARS), which may make it more difficult for resistance to develop.
Vir’s chief executive officer, George Scangos said that the data supports the ongoing role of sotrovimab as a critical treatment in the fight against the continuously evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“We note recent conclusions from another lab, which state that no approved or authorized monoclonal antibodies for treatment retain activity against all subvariants of Omicron. We are therefore pleased to share that, based on our pseudovirus and extensive pharmacokinetic data, we believe that the 500 mg dose of sotrovimab is sufficient to retain activity against the BA.2 variant, just as it has against all other variants of concern and interest.”
The company noted that these pseudovirus results are being shared with government and regulatory authorities around the world and expects to publish data on bioRxiv in the coming week, with live virus data to follow.
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