After admitting that its COVID-19 antibody REGEN-COV loses its effectiveness against the omicron variant, Regeneron revealed that it is working on a new treatment to defend against the mutated strain.
The new antibody drug could be ready for testing in the first quarter of next year, CEO Len Schleifer told CNBC. Timing will be crucial, he added, but the company's validated platform should help speed the approval process.
“We need to figure out a way to get this to patients on a large scale before the next variant shows up,” Schleifer said. “We don’t want to be chasing our tail here.”
Regeneron’s current treatment is effective against the delta strain, which has had a renewed surge, especially in the northern parts of the United States and other hotspots around the world.
A potential rise of omicron, along with the annual rise in flu infections in the winter, could complicate matters. But Schleifer said Regeneron has identified compounds that will treat both of the COVID-19 variants.
“We’re going to need a full tool kit here,” Schleifer told CNBC. “We’re excited to say we have a whole host of new antibodies which can work against both omicron and delta.”
The CDC said on Wednesday that omicron makes up roughly 3% of the COVID-19 infections in the U.S. CDC director Rochelle Walensky estimates that in New York and New Jersey, the new strain accounts for 13% of the cases.
Results of a lab study, released earlier this week from Germany, showed that Regeneron’s antibodies were ineffective against omicron infection. The study also revealed that the antibody cocktail from Eli Lilly—a combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab—is similarly ineffective.
At the same time, the antibodies from GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology were shown to stand up to omicron. Last month, the U.S. agreed to a $1 billion purchase of an undisclosed number of doses of the GSK/Vir antibodoes.
In its pandemic fight, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars each for supplies of the antibodies treatments of Regeneron and Lilly. The government has also agreed to buy COVID pills from Pfizer and Merck ahead of their potential emergency authorizations.