Sotrovimab..

 

For more than a year antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly have been the go-to treatments for early COVID-19, thanks to their ability to head off severe disease and keep patients out of the hospital.

But both drugmakers recently warned that laboratory testing suggests their therapies will be much less potent against omicron.

A third antibody from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline appears to be the best positioned to fight omicron. But Glaxo’s drug is not widely available in the U.S.,  

Glaxo’s drug, was specifically formulated to bind to a part of the virus that is less likely to mutate, according to the companies. Early studies of laboratory-simulated omicron by the drugmakers and outside researchers show promising results.

After pausing distribution last month to conserve supply, HHS is now shipping 55,000 doses of the drug, called sotrovimab, to state health departments, with the doses arriving as early as Tuesday. An additional 300,000 are expected in January.

HHS recommends states conserve the drug for the highest risk patients which include seniors and those with serious health problems, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and immune-system disorders.

We all need less fear, and more optimism at this time. Many things have changed since last year.  Just an Optimist" thought.