PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bojkova, Denisa
AU  - Widera, Marek
AU  - Ciesek, Sandra
AU  - Wass, Mark N.
AU  - Michaelis, Martin
AU  - Cinatl, Jindrich
TI  - Reduced interferon antagonism but similar drug sensitivity in Omicron variant compared to Delta variant SARS-CoV-2 isolates
AID  - 10.1101/2022.01.03.474773
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.01.03.474773
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/04/2022.01.03.474773.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/04/2022.01.03.474773.full
AB  - 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.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.