Therapeutic efficacy of antibodies and antivirals against a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

• Published in: Nature Portfolio
• Main Authors: Uraki, Ryuta, Kiso, Maki, Imai, Masaki, Yamayoshi, Seiya, Ito, Mutsumi, Ujie, Michiko, Furusawa, Yuri, Iwatsuki-Horimoto, Kiyoko, Sakai-Tagawa, Yuko, Kawaoka, Yoshihiro
• Format: Web Resource
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Durham Research Square 19.01.2022
• Subjects: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
• DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1240227/v1

The spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the major antigen stimulating the host's protective immune response. A new SARS-CoV-2 variant, designated Omicron, first identified in South Africa and possess many spike protein mutations. Here, we assessed the efficacy of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against an Omicron variant in Syrian hamsters. Of the mAbs tested (i.e., REGN10987/REGN10933, COV2-2196/COV2-2130, and S309), only COV2-2196/COV2-2130 efficiently inhibited the replication of the Omicron variant in the lungs of hamsters. We also found that treatment of Omicron-infected hamsters with molnupiravir (an inhibitor of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2) or S-217622 (an inhibitor of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2) led to a dramatic reduction of virus replication in the lungs. These findings suggest that treatment with the mAb combination COV2-2196/COV2-2130 or the antiviral compounds molnupiravir and S-217622 may be effective against the Omicron variants.