Texas, USA (CU)_ The United States has signed contracts to purchase monoclonal antibody Covid therapy produced by Vir and Glaxo. Shares of Vir Biotechnology shot up after the company and UK partner GlaxoSmithKline announced the agreement signed with the US government worth around $1 billion for the Covid-19 therapy.
The United States government has placed orders to purchase sotrovimab, which is an experimental monoclonal antibody being developed for the treatment of Covid-19 in its early stages. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use authorization for the medication in May 2021. According to the recent report, Vir’s shares were up 9.2 percent to $36.50, while Glaxo American’s depositary receipts were down 0.8 percent to $42.13.
George Scangos, CEO of Vir, expressed hopes over the agreement. He also spoke about the significance of monoclonal antibodies in Covid treatment. He said, “Monoclonal antibodies play an essential role in the treatment of certain patients with Covid-19 and … this agreement will allow more health-care providers and patients who are at high risk for progression to severe Covid-19 to access sotrovimab”.
GSK and Vir reported the final results for the Phase 3 study of the treatment in June. When compared to the placebo group, by Day 29, the results demonstrated a 79 percent reduction in hospitalizations lasting more than 24 hours or mortality from any cause.
The experiment demonstrated that sotrovimab given intramuscularly was non-inferior to sotrovimab given intravenously in the initial treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in high-risk, non-hospitalized adults and adolescents aged above 12. Hal Barron, CEO of GSK, released a statement highlighting the need for an alternative treatment for Covid-19. He said, “Given the large number of patients who continue to become ill with Covid-19 across many regions in the U.S., there is an ongoing need for access to effective treatments”.
