GSK and Vir Biotechnology announce United States government agreement to purchase additional supply of sotrovimab, authorised for the early treatment of COVID-19

GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) today announced that the US Government will purchase an additional 600,000 doses of sotrovimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody for the early treatment of COVID-19, enabling further nationwide access to sotrovimab for patients. The additional 600,000 doses will be delivered throughout the first quarter of 2022. This agreement is an amendment to earlier commitments announced with the US Government in November 2021.

Including the commitments announced today, GSK and Vir have received binding agreements for the sale of approximately 1.7 million doses of sotrovimab worldwide. In addition, today’s agreement also includes the option for the US government to purchase further additional doses in the second quarter of 2022.

Sotrovimab, which was granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2021, is an investigational single-dose intravenous (IV) infusion SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody. Under the EUA, sotrovimab can be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and paediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalisation or death.

GSK and Vir expect to manufacture approximately 2 million doses globally in the first half of 2022 and additional doses in the second half of the year.

Maya Martinez-Davis, President, US Pharmaceuticals, GSK, said: “We are proud to continue to work with the US government to bring sotrovimab to patients who need it, especially as the Omicron variant continues to grow in prevalence across the country. We understand the role we can play in supporting the ongoing pandemic response, and our teams are working with urgency to explore options to expand our supply capacity so we can support more patients in 2022.”

George Scangos, PhD, chief executive officer of Vir, said: “As the Omicron variant continues its rapid spread alongside the still prevalent Delta variant, we are pleased to once again work with the US government to provide more access to sotrovimab for people in the US at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19. Data from multiple pseudo-virus and live virus preclinical studies, generated by industry and academia, continue to demonstrate that sotrovimab retains activity against all tested variants of concern and interest. We are proud of our ongoing contributions to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic here in the US and around the world.”

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), collaborated with the Department of Defense Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) and Army Contracting Command to purchase contract numbers W58P0521C0008 and W58P0522C0002.

In June 2021, GSK and Vir announced confirmatory full results for the COMET-ICE Phase III trial examining use of sotrovimab for early treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in high-risk, non-hospitalised adults. The trial met the primary endpoint with a 79% reduction (adjusted relative risk reduction) (p<0.001) in all-cause hospitalisations for more than 24 hours or death due to any cause by Day 29 compared to placebo. In absolute numbers, 30 (6%) of the 529 patients in the placebo arm progressed, compared to six (1%) of the 528 patients receiving sotrovimab. In clinical trials conducted to date, sotrovimab has been well-tolerated. The most common adverse reactions are hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions, seen in approximately 2% and 1% of cases, respectively.

GSK and Vir are committed to the ongoing evaluation of sotrovimab as the COVID-19 landscape continues to evolve at different rates across the globe and new variants of concern and interest emerge. Preclinical pseudo-virus data, published in bioRxiv, demonstrate that sotrovimab retains activity against all tested variants of concern and interest of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as defined by the World Health Organization, including, but not limited to, Omicron (B.1.1.529), Delta (B.1.617.2), Delta Plus (AY.1 or AY.2) and Mu (B.1.621). Preclinical live virus testing has also been completed with data, recently published in bioRxiv, further demonstrating that sotrovimab retains activity against the Omicron variant.