ProtaBody announces the completion of a collaboration with Vir Biotechnology to develop cross-reactive SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing therapeutic antibodies.

This work led to the announcement by Vir Biotechnology that the company plans to advance VIR-7229 to clinical trials. VIR-7229 is an investigational next-generation COVID-19 antibody, optimized for increased potency, breadth, and resistance to viral escape thanks to AI engineering and optimization. In preclinical studies, VIR-7229 has been shown to have high potency against a broad spectrum of variants.

The development of VIR-7229 through the end of Phase 1 has been supported by the Biomedical Research and Development Agency (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)*.

Details of our contribution were published in Cell.