Efficacy of Antibodies and Antiviral Drugs against Covid-19 Omicron Variant

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 386; no. 10; pp. 995 - 998
• Main Authors: Takashita, Emi, Kinoshita, Noriko, Yamayoshi, Seiya, Sakai-Tagawa, Yuko, Fujisaki, Seiichiro, Ito, Mutsumi, Iwatsuki-Horimoto, Kiyoko, Chiba, Shiho, Halfmann, Peter, Nagai, Hiroyuki, Saito, Makoto, Adachi, Eisuke, Sullivan, David, Pekosz, Andrew, Watanabe, Shinji, Maeda, Kenji, Imai, Masaki, Yotsuyanagi, Hiroshi, Mitsuya, Hiroaki, Ohmagari, Norio, Takeda, Makoto, Hasegawa, Hideki, Kawaoka, Yoshihiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 10.03.2022
• Subjects: Antibodies, Monoclonal - pharmacology; Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Antiviral activity; Antiviral agents; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Coronavirus; Coronaviruses; Correspondence; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; DNA-directed RNA polymerase; Drugs; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; FDA approval; Infectious Disease; Infectious diseases; Influenza; Monoclonal antibodies; Mutation; Neutralization Tests; Pathogenesis; Proteinase inhibitors; Proteins; R&D; Research & development; RNA polymerase; SARS-CoV-2 - drug effects; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; United States > US; Japan
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2119407

Investigators assessed the in vitro activities of seven monoclonal antibodies and three antiviral drugs against Covid-19 variants of concern. All the antibodies showed either no or weak neutralizing activity against the omicron variant; two agents that target the RNA polymerase and a protease inhibitor were effective at omicron neutralization.