Sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody already approved for mild to moderate COVID-19 in several countries gets approval by MHRA in the UK. This antibody was intelligently designed with a mutating virus in mind. A highly conserved region of the spike protein was targeted that is less likely to mutate, with a hope to address both the previous and current variante of SARS-CoV-2 virus (Omicron) and the future variante, that would be inevitable.
Xeduvy (sotrovimab), a anticorp monoclonal made in collaboration between GSK and Vir Biotechnology which has already been approved for mild to moderate COVID-19 patients in several countries (Australia, Canada, USA), was recently given market authorization by MHRA, UK1 pentru utilizare la pacienții cu COVID-19 în termen de 5 zile de la debutul infecției. Sa constatat că este sigur și eficient și a redus riscul de spitalizare cu 79%. Caracteristica cheie a sotrovimabului este că este vizată împotriva unei regiuni extrem de conservate a proteinei spike a SARS-CoV-2, care este mai puțin probabil să sufere mutații. Această regiune a SARS-CoV-2 este partajată cu SARS-CoV-1 (virusul care provoacă SARS)2, indicating that the region is highly conserved, thereby making it more difficult for resistance to develop. This feature makes sotrovimab to work against all the variante of COVID-19 available so far, including omicron. It should also work on any future variante as well, as long as the mutations do not occur in the conserved region3 a proteinei de vârf a SARS-CoV-2, care nu a fost văzută până acum.
Sotrovimab can thus act as a magic bullet against the all known and future unknown variante (that are inevitable as virus accumulates more mutations by higher transmission) of COVID-19. The principle of developing sotrovimab by targeting the conserved region of the spike protein, can be exploited for further development of monoclonal antibodies and vaccines against COVID-19.
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Referinte:
- GSK 2021. Comunicate de presă – MHRA acordă autorizație condiționată de introducere pe piață1 pentru tratamentul COVID-19 Xevudy (sotrovimab). Publicat 02 decembrie 2021. Disponibil la https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/mhra-grants-conditional-marketingauthorisation1-for-covid-19-treatment-xevudy-sotrovimab/
- GSK 2021. Comunicate de presă - Datele preclinice demonstrează că sotrovimabul își păstrează activitatea împotriva mutațiilor cheie Omicron, noua variantă SARS-CoV-2. Publicat 02 decembrie 2021. Disponibil la https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/preclinical-data-demonstratesotrovimab-retains-activity-against-key-omicron-mutations-new-sars-cov-2-variant/
- Pinto, D., Park, YJ., Beltramello, M. et al. Neutralizarea încrucișată a SARS-CoV-2 de către un anticorp uman monoclonal SARS-CoV. Natură 583, 290-295 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2349-y
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