Celltrion expects COVID-19 treatment candidate to show efficacy against omicron

South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. on Thursday anticipated its antibody treatment against COVID-19 under development would show efficacy against the omicron variant.

Celltrion said that CT-P63 has maintained strong neutralizing ability against the omicron variant during pseudo-virus testing. The candidate treatment is currently under clinical trials.

The announcement comes after local health authorities announced Wednesday they will halt using Celltiron's COVID-19 treatment, Rekirona.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Rekirona has less efficacy against omicron, which has became the dominant strain in the country.

"Since Feb. 18, a new supply of Rekirona has been halted," the KDCA said in a press release, adding that leftover bottles will be used until the end of this month for COVID-19 patients infected with the delta variant.

In February 2021, Rekirona won a conditional approval from South Korea's drug safety agency, becoming the first locally made treatment for COVID-19.

CT-P63 is a monoclonal antibody targeting the spike receptor binding domain as a treatment for COVID-19 infection.

Celltrion also anticipates a cocktail therapy using CT-P63 in combination with Rekirona will be effective against emerging mutants.

The company also submitted an application for a phase three clinical trial of its cocktail therapy in three countries. The trial will enroll 2,200 participants. (Yonhap)