Thread by @sailorrooscout

Sotrovimab, a COVID-19 antibody treatment that has been approved in the UK, has proven to be effective against ALL new mutations in the spike protein of the Omicron variant, NOT just the key mutations. The tests included ALL 37 mutations identified to-date in the spike protein.

Sotrovimab reduced the risk of hospitalization and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 by 79% in trials.

Given the less than three-fold drop in neutralization during tests, developers are confident that Sotrovimab will continue to provide significant benefit for the early treatment of patients hoping to avoid the most severe consequences of COVID-19. The injected antibodies are just

one tool in the arsenal of COVID treatments, but could be key to immune-suppressed people who don’t mount an adequate response to vaccines and help lessen the effects of the virus in those more susceptible to severe disease.
•reuters.com/business/healt…
•bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Interesting fact. Sotrovimab was cloned from memory B-cells of an individual who recovered from COVID-19, many recipients of our current vaccines will develop similar antibodies. Immunological memory for the win! Past studies: nejm.org/doi/full/10.10… and nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

ADDITION: Sotrovimab is authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe

COVID-19, including hospitalization or death in the United States. Overall, some fairly encouraging news today and gives us some insight into what we might be able to expect for our vaccines. You can see here for more information: sotrovimab.com

Anyone who is interested in a well-written, informative thread regarding some positive signs on Omicron and severity read this.

https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1468310548609744904

Some takeaways:
•Share of COVID-positive patients in ICU or on ventilators is somewhere between 2-3x lower than it was at the same stage of the Delta wave
•Suggests reduction in severity of outcomes, and we see something similar when we look at length of stay in hospital data

•Data on admissions and discharges shows there is a clear gap between the two and is shorter for this wave, suggesting milder illness
•Unlike total COVID-positive patient numbers, which are close to Delta levels, the numbers in ICU and on ventilators are low

•Majority of patients in COVID ward were actually admitted for other reasons (all receiving oxygen for COVID were unvaccinated)
•Cautious optimism is key
•Omicron being “milder” seems to be consistent with immune protection so, with that said, make sure you’re protected!