May 28, 2021

Reduced Sensitivity of Infectious SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.617.2 to Monoclonal Antibodies and Sera from Convalescent and Vaccinated Individuals

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): immunity, variants

• [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 variant of concern, first described in India, was experimentally shown to completely escape neutralizing activity from the monoclonal antibody (mAb) bamlanivimab (made by Eli Lilly), while neutralizing activity of etesivimab (also Eli Lilly), casirivimab and imdevimab (Regeneron) were preserved. Neutralizing activity of sera from 56 individuals recovered from critical, severe, and mild-to-moderate COVID-19 were decreased 4-6 fold against B.1.617.2 compared to the D614G and B.1.1.7 variants. Neutralizing activity of sera from individuals without prior infection who were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (n=16) showed 3- fold reduction against B.1.617.2 compared to the B.1.1.7 variant. 

Planas et al. (May 27, 2021). Reduced Sensitivity of Infectious SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.617.2 to Monoclonal Antibodies and Sera from Convalescent and Vaccinated Individuals. Pre-print downloaded May 28 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.26.445838