XBB Variant Up to 21 Times More Evasive to Vaccine Antibodies Than BA.5
Omicron subvariants BQ.1.1 and XBB.1 were more effective at escaping neutralizing antibodies compared with the BA.5 variant following both monovalent and bivalent mRNA boosters, new data suggested. In 15 participants who had received a monovalent mRNA booster in 2022, neutralizing antibody titers against BA.5 were seven times higher than those for BQ.1.1, and 17 times […]
COVID Antivirals Appear to Hold Up Against BA.2
While two monoclonal antibody combinations showed neutralizing activity against the Omicron subvariant BA.2, both required substantially higher concentrations to produce a response in patients with COVID-19, Japanese researchers said, while antivirals appeared to be less affected. Casirivimab/imdevimab (REGEN-COV) and tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld) inhibited BA.2, but the titer of monoclonal antibodies “required for a 50% reduction in […]
ART-Free Strategy Could Control HIV in Some African Kids
Roughly half of young children with HIV in Botswana treated with two broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) were able to remain virally suppressed for 24 weeks, even in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART), a researcher said. In a small proof-of-concept study of 25 children ages 2-5 years, 11 children (44%, 95% CI 24%-65%) who stopped […]