Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology is a clinical-stage immunology company focused on infectious diseases.

Using their antibody platform Vir identifies rare antibodies from survivors of infectious diseases, which are unusually successful immune responses that naturally occur in some people who are protected from or have recovered from an infectious disease. These antibodies are engineered to enhance their therapeutic potential. These antibodies can work via direct pathogen neutralization an immune system stimulation.

Vir Biotechnology has a T Cell Platform that exploits the unique immunology of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) which is commonly occurring in humans. HCMV is being used as a delivery vehicle or vector for vaccines and has applications for cancer treatments. HCMV is a potent inducer of T cells responses and can cause T cell responses to a broad range of epitopes, the part of an antigen that an antibody attaches to.

The Innate Immunity Platform aims to create host-directed therapies. This approach is expected to be less susceptible to pathogens developing resistance. The SiRNA Platform can be used to inhibit pathogen replication, eliminating key host factors that the pathogen needs for survival and can remove microbial immune countermeasures.

Vir announced on February 12, 2020 that its researchers identified two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on the Coronavirus strain responsible for a pneumonia outbreak which began in Wuhan, China. A spike protein is the part of an enveloped virus used to help it gain access to the cell. The strain of coronavirus was initially called 2019-nCoV and more recently named SARS-CoV-2 and the disease caused by the virus has been named COVID-19 (coronavirus disease). Using a platform previously used to isolate mAb114 which is active against Ebola, Vir identified antibodies with biological activity against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Antibody-based drugs can be both preventative against infection and therapeutic in those already infected. Antibody treatments can be effective in hours, working faster than a vaccine. The antibodies were identified from an existing library of 20 fully human antibodies which bind and neutralize related coronavirus such as SARS-CoV and coronaviruses that infect animals. Research is underway to determine if those antibodies or additional ones can function as a treatment or prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2.

VIR is working with Biogen for the development and clinical manufacturing of human monoclonal antibodies to potentially treat COVID-19. VIR is also working with WuXi Biologics in China.