Vir and GSK join Covid-19 antibody race

Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline are starting a study of an antibody drug aimed at treating Covid-19, STAT’s Matthew Herper writes. The trial is recruiting 1,300 patients who have early symptomatic infection, and will test whether VIR-7831 can stave off hospitalization.

The Vir-GSK collaboration is lagging several months behind other efforts to develop antibody treatments for Covid-19. But Vir CEO George Scangos told STAT that the companies expect the antibody could have advantages over those developed by Regeneron and Eli Lilly/AbCellera. He thinks VIR-7831 might help better neutralize the virus, and activate the immune system to attack infected cells.

“Obviously we're moving as fast as we can,” said GSK's chief scientific officer, Hal Barron. “I'm the first to say every day matters. But it's really important to make sure you have an understanding of a medicine that would get approval in terms of benefits and risks.”

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