Vir Biotechnologies made headlines in 2021 for its work with GlaxoSmithKline on a treatment for COVID-19, and again in 2022 for its work with the US government on influenza. But while the company is still working in infectious disease, they believe their immune system-harnessing technology has much wider potential.
In a post-JPM virtual sit-down, editor in chief Jonah Comstock speaks with Vir Biotechnologies’ new CEO (she joined in April last year), Marianne De Backer.
De Backer tells us about Vir’s pipeline across a variety of indications, including promising new data in hepatitis delta and HIV and ongoing work in influenza and RSV. She also discusses the company’s approach of combining antivirals and immunomodulators to produce stronger results than either agent working alone and the company’s business prospects around potential M&A.
In the back half of the interview, they discuss how artificial intelligence is impacting the company’s work and how De Backer thinks it will change the field going forward. And, as usual, stay tuned for some higher-level trends and predictions. You can check out the video.