Feds pause COVID monoclonal antibody treatment in 8 states over potential failure against BA.2 subvariant

The government is pausing one of the monoclonal antibody therapies for COVID-19 since it has been shown to not hold up against the BA.2 subvariant.

The federal government is sharply pulling back on one of the monoclonal antibody treatments authorized for COVID-19, pausing its use across eight states out of concerns it will fail against the BA.2 omicron subvariant.

The therapy, called Sotrovimab from GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, is now no longer authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey and New York, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, while BA.2 is the prevailing COVID-19 strain, the agency announced Friday.

Distribution of the drug will now be "immediately" paused across those regions, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

In those impacted areas, BA.2 is estimated to account for more than 50% of new cases as of March 19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BA.2 has been especially dominant across the Northeast -- a prevalence reflected by the regions where the government is now pulling back Sotrovimab's licensure. The CDC estimates BA.2 accounts for more than a third of new cases nationally.