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Vir Biotechnology Provides Corporate Update and Reports First Quarter 2020 Financial Results
SAN FRANCISCO, May 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on treating and preventing
About this update from Vir Biotechnology, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SAN FRANCISCO, May 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on treating and preventing serious infectious diseases, today provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020.\n “Since early January, we have moved rapidly to address what is likely the greatest global health challenge of our lifetime,” said George Scangos, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vir. “Our immunologic approach to infectious disease, the technologies that we have assembled since our creation, and our exceptional people have put us in the privileged position to quickly formulate and begin executing a cohesive strategy to bring forward – together with our collaborators – multiple potential solutions to COVID-19. We are aggressively advancing these efforts, while maintaining sharp focus on our ongoing programs in hepatitis B, influenza A, and HIV.” Corporate Updates SARS-CoV-2 In March, the company announced that VIR-7831 and VIR-7832, monoclonal antibodies that have demonstrated the ability to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 live virus, are planned to proceed directly into a Phase 2 trial this summer pending regulatory review.During and following the quarter, the company entered into multiple manufacturing agreements for the production of clinical and commercial antibodies for its SARS-CoV-2 program, including: A development and clinical manufacturing collaboration with WuXi Biologics (stock code: 2269.HK) in February;A letter of intent for development and clinical manufacturing with Biogen, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) in March; andA binding agreement with Samsung Biologics Co., Ltd. (207940.KS) in April to perform large-scale manufacturing services, with a definitive agreement to be executed before July 31, 2020. In April, the company, GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property Development Limited and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA (together, “GSK”) signed a binding preliminary collaboration agreement to research, develop and commercialize solutions for coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of VIR-7831 and VIR-7832 and to identify new anti-viral antibodies that could be used as therapeutic or preventative options to help address the current COVID-19 pandemic and future outbreaks. The companies will also lever...