Introduction: The Evolving Landscape of COVID-19 Therapeutics
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the therapeutic arsenal has shifted from broad-spectrum anti-inflammatories to targeted antiviral interventions. Among these, neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were initially heralded as a breakthrough for preventing progression in outpatients. However, their role in hospitalized patients—who often present later in the disease course with significant inflammatory damage—has remained a subject of intense clinical debate. Sotrovimab, a neutralizing monoclonal antibody designed to target a highly conserved epitope on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, was hypothesized to retain efficacy even as the virus mutated. The RECOVERY trial, the world’s largest platform trial for COVID-19 treatments, recently provided critical evidence on whether this therapy can improve survival in the most severely ill patients.
