TY  - INPR
A1  - Bojkova, Denisa
A1  - Widera, Marek
A1  - Ciesek, Sandra
A1  - Wass, Mark N.
A1  - Michaelis, Martin
A1  - Cinatl, Jindrich
T1  - Reduced interferon antagonism but similar drug sensitivity in Omicron variant compared to Delta variant SARS-CoV-2 isolates
T2  - bioRxiv
N2  - The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is currently causing a large number of infections in many countries. A number of antiviral agents are approved or in clinical testing for the treatment of COVID-19. Despite the high number of mutations in the Omicron variant, we here show that Omicron isolates display similar sensitivity to eight of the most important anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs and drug candidates (including remdesivir, molnupiravir, and PF-07321332, the active compound in paxlovid), which is of timely relevance for the treatment of the increasing number of Omicron patients. Most importantly, we also found that the Omicron variant displays a reduced capability of antagonising the host cell interferon response. This provides a potential mechanistic explanation for the clinically observed reduced pathogenicity of Omicron variant viruses compared to Delta variant viruses.
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/72994
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-729945
IS  - 2022.01.03.474773
ER  -