Gilead: Remdesivir Retains Antiviral Activity Against Omicron, Delta and Other Emergent SARS-CoV-2 Variants

 Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today released data demonstrating the in vitro activity of Veklury® (remdesivir) against ten SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron. Results of Gilead studies are consistent with other in vitro studies independently conducted by researchers from institutions in other countries, including Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and the United States, which confirmed Veklury’s antiviral activity against multiple previously identified variants of SARS-CoV-2, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron.

The study analyzed in vitro antiviral activity by two methods to understand the susceptibility of ten major SARS-CoV-2 variants to Veklury. The study results showed similar activity of Veklury against the variants and an early ancestral A lineage isolate detected in Seattle, WA (WA1 strain). Specifically, Delta and Omicron variants both remained fully susceptible to Veklury, and these laboratory results demonstrate that Veklury has remained active against all major variants isolated over the past two years.

Veklury directly inhibits viral replication inside host cells by targeting the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. On entering the body, Veklury is transformed into the active triphosphate metabolite, which is then incorporated into the viral RNA and stops replication of the virus within the infected cells. The study analyzed nearly 6 million publicly available variant isolate sequences and confirmed that the nsp12 protein, the RNA polymerase target of Veklury, is highly conserved across all variants. Further characterization confirmed that none of the few identified nsp12 mutations prevalent in some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants affects the virus susceptibility to Veklury.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/veklury-remdesivir-retains-antiviral-activity-130100296.html