Good news, the antibody cocktail developed by biotech Regeneron, which was administered to Donald Trump when he contracted Covid-19, remains effective on the British and South African variants.
An effective cocktail of antibodies … in part
While the news focuses on vaccination against Covid-19, treatments are also being tested. Among them, REGEN-COV. Developed by the biotechnology company Regeneron, it involves the introduction, through the nose and throat, of genetic material into cells in order to trigger an immune response through the production of antibodies attacking SARS-CoV-2 , virus responsible for covid-19. This cocktail of antibodies had been used to treat former President Donald Trump and had been urgently authorized by the United States Medicines Agency at the end of November for people with mild or moderate symptoms of Covid-19 and being at risk. to develop a severe form of the disease. Made up of “the two neutralizing antibodies” called imdevimab and casirivimab, REGEN-COV “has retained its potent neutralizing capacity against the British B.1.1.7 variant” as well as “against the South African B.1.351 variant,” said the company in a January 27 press release. Information independently confirmed by researchers at Columbia University.
Treatment-resistant casirivimab antibody
On the other hand, with regard to the South African variant, the casirivimab antibody “saw its potency reduced”. The researchers noticed that the synthetic bamlanivimab antibody was “inactive” against the South African variant. This should also be the case for the Brazilian variant but Regeneron claims otherwise. Studies are underway to confirm this. “As expected, the virus continues to mutate, and these data show the continued ability of REGEN-COV to neutralize emerging strains, thus validating our multi-antibody cocktail approach against infectious diseases,” said George Yancopoulos, president and manager. Regeneron scientist. “With two complementary antibodies in the same treatment, if one of them has a reduced potency, the risk of losing the effectiveness of the cocktail is significantly reduced, because the virus would need to mutate in several different places to escape both. antibody, ”he said. If the mutation of viruses is a phenomenon well known to scientists, that observed on the South African variant is particularly worrying because it seems resistant to vaccines and treatments.
