news

Dominant Omicron subvariants better at evading vaccines and antibody treatments

A new study has found that the latest Omicron subvariants are even better at avoiding vaccines and most antibody treatments than previous variants.

New variants of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 of COVID-19 in red font on mustard background.

Researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, US, have found that the latest Omicron subvariants, including the BA.4 and BA.5 forms, are even better at eluding vaccines and most antibody treatments than previous variants. The study was recently published in Nature.

Subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 are rapidly expanding worldwide. These subvariants are thought to be even more transmissible than prior Omicron subvariants, owing to several new mutations in spike proteins.

“The virus is continuing to evolve, as expected, and it is not surprising that these new, more transmissible subvariants are becoming more dominant around the world,” said Dr David Ho. “Understanding how currently available vaccines and antibody treatments stand up to the new subvariants is critical to developing strategies to prevent severe disease, hospitalisations, and deaths—if not infection.”

 

Reserve your FREE place

 


Are you looking to optimise antibody leads in your drug discovery? Register for this webinar to find out how!

30 July 2025 | 10:00 AM BST | FREE Webinar

Join this webinar to hear from Dr. Lei Guo as she shares how early insights into liability, PK, stability, and manufacturability can help you optimise antibody leads in early drug discovery – and mitigate downstream risks later in development.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to assess key developability risks early
  • How in silico modelling and in vitro testing can be combined to predict CMC risks earlier in discovery stage
  • How micro-developability strategies are tailored for complex or novel formats

Don’t miss your chance to learn from real-world leaders

Register Now – It’s Free!

 

In laboratory experiments, the team studied the ability of antibodies from individuals who received at least three doses of an mRNA vaccine or got two shots and were then infected with Omicron, to neutralise the new subvariants. Ho’s team did not look at individuals who had not received a booster shot, because a previous study found that two doses provide little protection against infection by earlier Omicron variants.

The study revealed that while BA.2.12.1 is only modestly more resistant than BA.2 in individuals who were vaccinated and boosted, BA.4/5 was at least four times more resistant than its predecessor.

In addition, the scientists tested the ability of 19 monoclonal antibody treatments to neutralise the variants and found that only one of the available antibody treatments remained highly effective against both BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/5. 

Missed the news? Immune molecules from a llama could provide protection against COVID-19
READ MORE

“Our study suggests that as these highly transmissible subvariants continue to expand around the globe, they will lead to more breakthrough infections in people who are vaccinated and boosted with currently available mRNA vaccines,” Ho said. Though the current study suggests that the new variants may cause more infections in vaccinated individuals, the vaccines continue to provide good protection against severe disease.

“Efforts in the United States to develop new vaccine boosters aimed at BA.4/5 may improve protection against infection and severe disease,” Ho said. “In the current environment, though, we may need to look toward developing new vaccines and treatments that can anticipate ongoing evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

Related conditions

Related people