Vir Biotech, GlaxoSmithKline Get U.S. $1B Pact for Covid Treatment

Vir and Glaxo have developed a monoclonal antibody Covid treatment that the U.S. is purchasing.

Shares of Vir Biotechnology  (VIR) – Get Vir Biotechnology, Inc. Report jumped Wednesday after the compa said it and U.K. partner GlaxoSmithKline  (GSK) – Get GlaxoSmithKline plc Sponsored ADR Report signed U.S. government contracts valued at about $1 billion for a Covid-19 treatment.

The U.S. government has contracts to purchase sotrovimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody for the early treatment of Covid-19.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2021 granted emergency use authorization for the drug.

Shares of Vir at last check jumped 9.2% to $36.50 while Glaxo American depositary receipts fell 0.8% to $42.13.

“Monoclonal antibodies play an essential role in the treatment of certain patients with Covid-19 and … this agreement will allow more health-care providers and patients who are at high risk for progression to severe Covid-19 to access sotrovimab,” Vir Chief Executive George Scangos said in a statement.

In June, GSK and Vir announced confirmatory full results for the Phase 3 trial of the treatment. The results showed a 79% reduction in hospitalizations for more than 24 hours or death due to any cause by Day 29 compared with a placebo.

The trial showed that intramuscular administration of sotrovimab was “non-inferior” to IV administration for the early treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in high risk, non-hospitalized adults and adolescents ages 12 and older.

“Given the large number of patients who continue to become ill with Covid-19 across many regions in the U.S., there is an ongoing need for access to effective treatments,” GSK CEO Hal Barron said in a statement.