Omicron mutations may hurt effectiveness of Covid-19 antibody therapies, but it’s too soon to tell

Mutations found in the Omicron variant of Covid-19 might affect the viability of Covid-19 antibody  treatments, however there isn't sufficient information to know yet, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said.

“It's possible with the monoclonal antibodies that they may be affected,” Murthy said in a discussion hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce. “It's certainly possible because we know that they target specific parts of the virus and if there are mutations of those parts of the virus in this new variant, then these monoclonal antibodies may not be able to attach as easily to the virus and may not be able to then activate and recruit the immune system to clear the virus,” he said.

Murthy said more data is had to know for sure.

“The only way we'll know for sure is actually the test the monoclonal antibodies against the virus or pseudovirus in the laboratory. That's the work that’s underway," Murthy said.

Pseudoviruses are engineered viruses used to test the blood of volunteers in the lab.

“There's still good reason to believe that the efficacy, the effectiveness of those oral medications may not be as significantly affected with this new variant,” Murthy said. “That’s sort of based on the biology of how they actually act against the virus,” he added.

Murthy added: "This is to say that there are motivations to be hopeful. There's still ways we can secure ourselves."

Content from CNN: https://cnn.it/2ZNl6e0