GlaxoSmithKline GSK 1.24% PLC and Vir Biotechnology Inc. VIR -13.36% said their Covid-19 antibody treatment retained effectiveness against the Omicron variant in laboratory studies, even as early data suggests that similar treatments work less well against the highly mutated strain…

The result confirms earlier laboratory data suggesting that the drug worked against the variant. That data, published last week, showed that sotrovimab maintained activity against several of Omicron’s key mutations. Researchers at the companies confirmed the findings, which haven’t been peer reviewed, by testing the drug against the whole spike of Omicron. The companies are also working with public-health laboratories to test sotrovimab against the whole live virus. For other variants, tests against the spike alone have reliably predicted the results against the whole virus, according to Amanda Peppercorn, who leads Covid-19 monoclonal antibody development at Glaxo.