Why Vir Biotechnology Rocketed Higher Today

Shares of Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ: VIR) soared on Monday after the company announced some exciting news regarding its efforts to develop a treatment for COVID-19. Specifically, promising research findings from Vir's attempts to defeat COVID-19 were published in a paper in the journal Nature, one of the world's leading science journals. Vir's stock closed the day up by 32.1%.

The paper in question, entitled "Cross-neutralization of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 by a human monoclonal antibody" (Pinto, et al., Nature), describes how an antibody called S309 was isolated from a patient who recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) back in 2003. According to the authors of the paper, S309 "has been shown to prevent SARS-CoV-2 live virus infection of cells." This promising antibody could remain effective even if the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, at least according to Vir's Chief Scientific Officer, Herbert Virgin.

Vir is now moving forward in its quest to develop a treatment for COVID-19. The company's leading therapies for the rapidly spreading disease are called VIR-7831 and VIR-7832, and both are based on S309. Vir is collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) in this potentially lucrative project, and the two companies expect to start clinical testing this summer.

Source Fool.com