Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will sit before a Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, USA on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.
Graeme Jennings | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A mutated and more contagious strain of coronavirus first identified in South Africa is “troubling” and could pose a threat to antibody treatments used to prevent people from becoming seriously ill from Covid-19, White House health adviser said. Dr. Anthony Fauci Tuesday.
New strains of coronavirus first identified in the UK and South Africa have raised some concern among scientists who say the mutated variants are highly contagious, although they don’t appear to be more deadly compared to previous strains.
So far, health experts have said there is no evidence that the mutations change the effectiveness of current vaccines. However, there is some concern that the variant found in South Africa, known as 501Y.V2, may be more resistant to monoclonal antibodies, which have helped some people fight the virus when given early in their infection.
Through discussions with health experts in South Africa, Fauci said preliminary data shows that there is “more of a threat” that the species would evade some of the protections antibody treatments provide.
“It could have some impact on the protection of the monoclonal antibodies and maybe even the vaccine. We don’t know,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a question and answer session at Schmidt Futures. ‘Preparedness forum.
He added that researchers in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health and across the country are quickly trying to determine the potential impact of the South African species.
‘People ask me,’ Are you worried about it? “These are not the kind of things that worry me, but they are something that I take very seriously,” Fauci said.
As viruses spread, they are expected to mutate over time as the peaks on their surface change, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The 501Y.V2 variant gets its name from the N501Y mutation found in the spike protein that the virus uses to access cells in the body.
This mutation is also seen in the UK health authorities variant identified in December known as B.1.1.7. Although both variants found in the UK and South Africa share the N501Y mutation, they are different according to the World Health Organization.
Fauci has previously said that the mutated Covid-19 variations could pose a risk to the coronavirus therapies. Unlike vaccines, which trigger an immune response that attacks different parts of the virus, monoclonal antibodies target a very specific component, Fauci told California government Gavin Newsom in late December.
Eli Lilly, chairman and CEO Dave Ricks, told CNBC earlier Tuesday that he expects the company’s monoclonal antibody treatment to be effective against the variant found in the UK, although the one in South Africa could face more challenges. to care. Eli Lilly’s drug received an emergency permit in the US in November and was followed by another drug from Regeneron.
“The South African variety … is of concern. It has more dramatic mutations in that spike protein, which is the target” of these antibodies, Ricks said on “Squawk Box.” “Theoretically, it could avoid our drugs.”
The CDC has not yet identified strains of the 501Y.V2 variant in the United States, although according to data from the CDC, the agency has found at least 72 cases with the B.1.1.7 strain in the UK as of Monday. .
– CNBCs Holly Ellyatt and Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this report.