Regeneron Says Its COVID-19 Antibody Cocktail May Be Less Effective Against Omicron

The Regeneron Pharmaceuticals company logo is seen on a building at the company's Westchester campus in Tarrytown, New York, on Sept. 17, 2020. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Regeneron said on Nov. 30 that its COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail could lose effectiveness against Omicron, providing further indication that the arsenal of medical products developed to fight the disease may need modification to be effective against the new strain.

The drugmaker said in a statement (pdf) that early tests show that the high number of mutations in Omicron indicate that “there may be reduced neutralization activity of both vaccine-induced and monoclonal antibody conveyed immunity.”