“A set of monoclonal antibodies has been tested on omicron and works very well,” he said. Ginzburg clarified that clinical trials are planned to begin after the New Year holidays, and they will be completed within three months.
In November, Denis Logunov, Deputy director of the Gamalei Center, said that the antibody-based drug was “in a high degree of readiness” and expressed hope that it would be approved in the coming months.
The drug is an analogue of the drug that was used to treat former US President Donald Trump when he contracted the coronavirus.
This happened in the midst of the election race, when Trump was still the head of state and planned to remain him for a second term. The President was prescribed remdesivir and the steroid drug dexamethasone. In addition, he was injected with a cocktail of antibodies manufactured by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Four days later, Trump was discharged from the hospital.
In November, the US authorities allowed the use of a drug based on antibodies that Trump was treated with. Clinical trials have shown that a cocktail of antibodies reduces the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and reduces the risk of disease progression.
The Gamalei Center announced the beginning of the development of a similar tool last winter.
Earlier, a study by the center showed that the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine using a booster dose of Sputnik Lite contributes to the development of a strong immune response against the omicron strain.
The discovery of a new strain, which was later named “omicron”, was reported by British scientists at the end of November. The first cases of infection were recorded in South Africa and Botswana. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of December 21, those infected with the new strain have already been identified in 106 countries. At least 41 people have been infected with omicron in Russia.
The WHO warns that the omicron strain is spreading faster than the delta variant of the coronavirus, even in countries with a high level of immunity. Information about the severity of the disease remains limited.
Evgeniya Voropaeva
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