On Feb. 12, 2020, Vir Biotech announced it had identified two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind to SARS-CoV-2 (previously known as ‘2019-nCoV’), which were originally found because they bind and neutralize the original SARS-CoV.

The antibodies target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the region that the virus uses to enter cells through the cellular receptor ACE2. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 causes the newly named disease, Covid-19.