Remdesivir, the antiviral COVID-19 treatment by Gilead Sciences, will remain effective against the new Omicron variant.
After conducting an initial analysis of more than 200 sequences of the variant, including those from South Africa, Asia and Europe, the company found no new mutations present in the strain that is expected to alter the viral RNA polymerase compared to previous variants, Fox Business reports. Remdesivir, also called Velkury, targets the viral RNA polymerase to prevent replication of COVID inside infected cells.
“Veklury’s antiviral activity has been confirmed in vitro against all major previously identified variants of SARS-CoV-2 including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon,” Gilead said in a statement Wednesday. “Due to similarities in the viral RNA polymerase, these laboratory findings suggest that Veklury will also continue to be active against the Omicron variant and Gilead will conduct laboratory testing to confirm this analysis.”
Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are also evaluating the effectiveness of their vaccines against Omicron. Both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are developing omicron-specific boosters
