Regeneron said on Nov. 30 that its COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail could lose effectiveness against Omicron, providing further indication that the arsenal of medical products developed to fight the disease may need modification to be effective against the new strain.
It comes as researchers have raised doubts about the efficacy of COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines that target the virus’ spike protein, as Regeneron’s product does, since Omicron has been found to have multiple mutations of the spike protein.
Bancel said that the high number of mutations on the protein spike that the virus uses to infect human cells suggests it’s likely the current crop of vaccines would need to be modified.
He added that he believes it could be months before pharmaceutical companies can manufacture vaccines at scale to combat Omicron.
The World Health Organization (WHO) named the Omicron strain, which was discovered in South Africa less than a week ago, as a “variant of concern” (VOC) on Nov. 26, sparking travel bans to several African nations.
On Monday, the WHO posted a technical brief on Omicron, saying it is likely to spread internationally, posing a “very high” global risk of infection surges that could have “severe consequences” in some areas.
“Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the WHO said.
“The overall global risk related to the new VOC Omicron is assessed as very high,” the agency added.
The agency added that, while there have been no reported deaths linked to Omicron to date, more research is needed to assess the variant’s potential to escape protection against immunity induced by vaccines and previous infections.
While Omicron was already as far afield as Canada and Australia, a South African doctor who had treated cases said symptoms of the virus were so far mild.