Summary
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with highly mutated spike proteins has presented a major obstacle to the use of monoclonal antibodies for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection and treatment of COVID-19. Better prophylactic and therapeutics for current and future variants are needed. We show that a high affinity receptor decoy protein in which a modified ectodomain of human ACE2 is fused a single domain of an immunoglobulin heavy chain Fc region dramatically suppressed virus loads in mice upon challenge with high dose of parental SARS-CoV-2 or Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 and potently suppressed virus replication when administered post-infection. The approach offers protection that is broader than monoclonal antibodies that are likely to be evaded by the continued evolution of the viral spike protein.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
