GSK, Vir Struggle to Meet Demand for COVID-19 Antibody Therapy

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Vir Biotechnology are having trouble meeting the rapidly increasing demand for their COVID-19 antibody therapy sotrovimab. They have added a second manufacturing plant because their antibody is the only one shown to evade the Omicron variant.

The Biden administration, which previously struck deals worth approximately $1 billion in November 2021 for an unknown number of doses, recently announced plans to buy a further 600,000 doses of the drug for an undisclosed amount.

Sotrovimab, which has been shown in studies to be one of the few effective treatments against the Omicron variant, snagged an FDA Emergency Use Authorization in May 2021.