How COVID-19 drug developers can stay ahead of viral variants

With a combination of genomic surveillance and in vitro laboratory assays, COVID-19 drug developers have the tools to get an early read on the vulnerability of their candidates to viral variants and course correct if necessary.

To date, no COVID-19 vaccine has proven variant-proof and some mAbs are impotent against certain variants. But not all therapies have exhibited reduced efficacy, and some companies think their countermeasures could avoid the issue due to features such as highly conserved drug targets that confer protection across a broad spectrum of viruses. ...