Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks has expressed concern that the new variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 first reported in South Africa might be resistant to the company’s antibody treatment bamlanivimab.

The concern appears to have some scientific grounding, judging by findings from researchers in Washington state reported on the preprint server bioRxiv.

Allison Greaney of the University of Washington and co-authors of an article about the study wrote that the variant, 20C/501Y.V2, can cause antibodies to have trouble targeting it. For instance, they found that the neutralizing activity of several antibody samples was reduced by more than 10-fold by certain mutations on the virus.

Eli Lilly’s antibody is also hitting other snags. Despite its approval by Health Canada, the Ministry of Health in the Canadian province of British Columbia has rejected the treatment. The provincial authority’s move prompted criticism from the company, which said the rejection was based on results from only a single phase 2 study.

The FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) in November, clearing the drug for its use in high-risk patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who don’t need hospitalization or oxygen (DID, Nov. 10, 2020).

Read the full study report here: bit.ly/2LNEhwY. — Martin Berman-Gorvine