GSK, Vir ramping up U.S. output of COVID antibody drug

GlaxoSmithKline and U.S. partner Vir Biotechnology will boost production of their antibody-based COVID-19 treatment by adding a second manufacturing plant to help meet soaring demand in the United States. The U.S. government last week signed a deal with the drugmakers to buy 600,000 more doses of the therapy, sotrovimab, for an undisclosed sum. The GSK-Vir therapy has shown more promise against the Omicron variant in lab studies than treatments from major rivals Eli Lilly and Regeneron.