GSK buys $250m biotech stake in hunt for Covid-19 treatment
Investment in Vir Biotechnology accelerates race for an antibody treatment for coronavirus
GlaxoSmithKline is investing $250m in San Francisco-based start-up Vir Biotechnology to develop antibodies that could be used to treat coronavirus.
The UK-based pharmaceutical company is acquiring a 6 per cent stake in Vir Biotechnology by paying 10 per cent more than the smaller group’s closing price on Friday. The announcement sent shares in Vir up almost 20 per cent to $34.75 in mid-morning trading in New York.
Many companies are hoping antibodies — proteins that protect the body by attacking foreign pathogens — could be the quickest way to bolster the immune systems of the sickest patients and even help prevent healthcare workers from becoming ill.
Vir already has two viral antibodies for Covid-19 that were developed from a patient who had Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or Sars, although other antibodies can be produced artificially.
GSK said the Vir proteins had been “highly potent” when targeted at the coronavirus in the lab.
While antibody treatments represent one hope for combating coronavirus, other pharmaceutical companies are seeking to develop or repurpose antiviral drugs, such as those used to treat HIV/Aids, and anti-inflammatory medicines.
Hal Barron, chief scientific officer at GSK, said the companies will unite to work on Vir’s “very promising antibodies for targeting Covid-19” and many other diseases.
George Scangos, chief executive of Vir Biotechnology, said multiple therapeutic approaches, either used together or one after another, will be needed to stop the pandemic. “It is likely that the current coronavirus outbreak will not be the last,” he said.
Bruno Bulic, a pharmaceuticals analyst at Baader Helvea, said the Vir approach was more “promising” than other potential treatments — including some from Gilead and AbbVie — that sought to disrupt the virus using drugs designed for other purposes. “It’s shooting in the dark, really,” he said.
The announcement follows deals between Amgen and Adaptive Biotechnologies, and Eli Lilly and AbCellera, to explore using antibodies to treat Covid-19. Both Takeda, the Japanese pharmaceutical company, and Regeneron, the New York-based biotech, have been trying to identify the most robust antibodies from recovered patients.
Vir’s antibodies bind to an area of the Sars virus that also exists in new coronavirus, which is known as Sars-CoV-2 and causes Covid-19.
With regulators’ permission, the companies plan to put two antibody candidates into testing in patients within three to five months. They will skip the phase 1 trials to test safety in humans and will go straight to phase 2, where they will examine safety and efficacy.
Vir’s platform has been used to find antibodies to Ebola, which are being used in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as flu, malaria, and hepatitis B.
The companies will also search for new antibodies for Sars-CoV-2 using Crispr, a technology usually known for gene-editing, and artificial intelligence. Vir has used this screening process to identify candidates for other respiratory conditions, including respiratory syncytial virus, a common, contagious disease that infects infants.