Eli Lilly’s Covid-19 Antibody Treatments not Effective When Exposed to Omicron
Dec 15, 2021 By MarketDepth
German researchers discovered that Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) Covid-19 antibody therapies are not very effective when exposed to the omicron variant of coronavirus. The treatment is one of the most effective one’s in America for people that have already been infected with the virus.
“The neutralizing activity of several monoclonal antibodies is strongly affected against the Omicron variant and will limit treatment options for Omicron-induced Covid-19,”
The study authors said in the paper that was posted online on Tuesday
The evidence has yet to be peer-reviewed for publication in a medical journal. However, Eli Lilly said that it does anticipate the efficacy of its antibody treatment to be lower against the strain.
“Due to the substitutions contained within the spike protein of the Omicron variant of concern, it appears that bamlanivimab with etesevimab is likely to experience reduced neutralisation activity.”
Said By A Spokesperson of the Company
The American pharmaceutical company is conducting its own Omicron tests, which include its experimental antibody bebtelovimab, and said they would report the findings as soon as they could.
Competition Treatments Fight Omicron
However, another popular monoclonal antibody treatment named Sotrovimab, developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, was found to adequately combat the variant, though it is not as strong against omicron as it is with other virus strains.
