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<ul><li><keyword id="12643486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="adagio-therapeutics" source="Orion">Adagio Therapeutics</keyword> stock is up as much as 319% since the <keyword id="12616995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="omicron-variant" source="Orion">Omicron variant</keyword> of COVID-19 was identified last week.</li><li>Adagio said it believes its antibody drug candidate, ADG20, will be effective against the new strain. </li><li>The company is anticipating emergency use authorization for its drug in the second half of 2022.</li></ul><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/adgi-stock">Adagio Therapeutics</a> stock soared as much as 68% on Tuesday, extending its three-day gain to a high of 319% as investors bet that its antiviral drug candidate, ADG20, will offer protection against the Omicron variant of COVID-19.The Waltham-based biotech said on Monday that <a href="https://investors.adagiotx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/adagio-therapeutics-reports-none-mutations-present-sars-cov-2">it expects its antiviral to be effective</a> against the new strain, citing recent data. "Due to the highly conserved and immuno recessive nature of the epitope recognized by ADG20, we expect that ADG20 will retain activity against Omicron, as we have observed in in vitro models with all other variants of concern identified previously," Chief Scientific Officer Laura Walker said.If successful, ADG20 will be a relief to the world as concerns grow about the effectiveness of current vaccines against the latest variant. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/mrna-stock">Moderna</a> CEO Stéphane Bancel <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/27def1b9-b9c8-47a5-8e06-72e432e0838f">told the Financial Times</a> on Tuesday that he expects the effectiveness of current vaccines to experience a "material drop" against new variants like Omicron.Adagio is preparing to submit its drug to the FDA for emergency use authorization in mid-2022. If that's granted, the company plans to have 4 million doses available for distribution over the next two years. "ADG20 was uniquely designed to combine breadth, potency and duration of protection against SARS-CoV-2 for up to one year in a single injection. We did this anticipating that SARS-CoV-2 would continue to evolve and potentially render some early therapies and vaccines obsolete," CEO Tillman Gerngross said.Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison raised his price target on Adagio stock to $49 on Monday, as he expects the company's antibody to prove effective against Omicron. The company went public in August at a valuation of nearly $2 billion, having priced its IPO at $17 per share. On Tuesday, Adagio stock hit a record high of $78.82, valuing the company at about $6 billion, but pared back its gains in Tuesday afternoon trades to about 1.5%.<div type="image" title="Adagio stock price" height="509" width="624" msid="88016380" hostid="261"></div>

Adagio Therapeutics extends 3-day gain to 319% on hopes that its antiviral can treat the Omicron variant

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Drug companies are preparing for Omicron to be the next major challenge of the pandemic.</li><li>The newest variant's mutations could weaken vaccine protection, though that remains unknown.</li></ul>Vaccine and drug developers are preparing for the Omicron variant to turn into the next major challenge of the pandemic. The new variant, first identified in South Africa, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/global-spread-omicron-cases-associated-travel-curbs-2021-11-29/">has already spread</a> to at least 10 countries around the world, with confirmed cases in places such as the UK, Australia, Germany, and Canada. The World <keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">Health</keyword> Organization labeled the new strain a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/omicron-covid-variant-concern-what-we-know-2021-11">"variant of concern"</a> on Friday, and the world is now waiting on laboratory research to clarify just how threatening Omicron may be.The biggest questions <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/omicron-covid-variant-concern-what-we-know-2021-11">are still unanswered</a>, particularly how the leading vaccines and treatments hold up against Omicron. Experts say they are worried because this new variant carries more than 30 mutations to its spike protein, the target for the vaccines and many treatments. The fear is these changes to the virus may help it evade protection from vaccination or an antibody infusion.<div type="image" title="Robert Nelsen Arch Venture Partners" height="1816" width="2421" msid="87992507" hostid="261"></div>"On the face of it, it looks pretty gnarly," Robert Nelsen, a managing director of Arch Venture Partners, told Insider.<h2>Vaccine developers are already preparing Omicron-specific boosters </h2><div type="image" title="A NHS vaccinator prepares to administer the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to a member of public at a vaccination centre in London." height="1750" width="3500" msid="87992509" hostid="261"></div>Drug companies have been preparing for this moment. The vaccine manufacturers Moderna, <keyword id="11897118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pfizer" source="Orion">Pfizer</keyword>, and BioNTech have talked up their ability to quickly update their vaccines to new strains thanks to the flexibility of their mRNA-based shots. While they are also waiting for definitive data on how the vaccine formulations hold up, they are already jumping into action. "This is the highest level of alert we've ever been on, by far," Stephen Hoge, Moderna's president, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/covid-variant-fallout-omnicron/2021/11/27/8c6e0548-4f02-11ec-a7b8-9ed28bf23929_story.html">The Washington Post</a>.Hoge called Omicron's dozens of mutations "a Frankenstein mixture of the greatest hits." They carry some of the changes that raised alarm with variants such as Beta and Delta. Omicron has additional mutations that aren't well studied yet, he added. Previous lab studies have shown that the vaccines <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03777-9">produce fewer</a> neutralizing antibodies against the Beta and Delta variants. Those lower antibody levels are still protective, but some experts suspected that the changes cause <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02261-8">protection to wane faster</a>.Moderna <a href="https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-strategy-address-omicron-b11529-sars-cov-2">announced</a> its Omicron strategy on Friday. The Massachusetts <keyword id="11908912" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biotech" source="Orion">biotech</keyword> has started developing a booster shot tailored to the new variant. The company has already started clinical trials for other booster shots, including a version of its vaccine that includes mutations previously seen in the Beta and Delta variants that are also present in Omicron.Pfizer and BioNTech are also evaluating an Omicron-specific booster shot. Pfizer has said it can have a new shot ready to manufacture and distribute in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-vaccine-update-100-days-omicron-variant-resistant-2021-11">less than 100 days</a>.Other vaccine developers are also scrambling to respond. Johnson &amp; Johnson <a href="https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-to-evaluate-its-covid-19-vaccine-against-new-omicron-covid-19-variant">said on Monday</a> that it's also working on an Omicron-specific vaccine. Novavax, a Maryland biotech, said on Friday that it's starting to develop an Omicron shot that could begin testing and manufacturing in a few weeks, if needed.Not all agree that Omicron-specific shots are the best approach. Tillman Gerngross, the CEO of the antibody developer Adagio Therapeutics, told Insider that a variant-specific shot was a "fool's errand" given how quickly new strains emerge. Gerngross' company is focused on making COVID-19 antibody treatments that are variant-resistant.Vaccine developers previously created a Beta-specific shot, only to have Delta take over by the time it was ready for clinical study, he said. "Chasing the waves is an idiotic idea in my view," Gerngross said. <h2>Antiviral treatments could play a larger role as the Omicron variant spreads</h2><div type="image" title="monoclonal antibodies" height="2139" width="2853" msid="87992511" hostid="261"></div>Nelsen, a longtime biotech venture capitalist who sits on the board of Vir Biotechnology, said he was confident Omicron would have less effect on the new COVID-19 pills developed by Pfizer and Merck compared to the vaccines."The antivirals should work," Nelsen said, although he didn't believe Merck's drug would be much help after a new analysis showed that it was <a href="https://www.merck.com/news/merck-and-ridgeback-biotherapeutics-provide-update-on-results-from-move-out-study-of-molnupiravir-an-investigational-oral-antiviral-medicine-in-at-risk-adults-with-mild-to-moderate-covid-19/">30% effective</a> at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. Instead, Nelsen said Pfizer's pill, which showed an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizers-covid-19-pill-paxlovid-cuts-hospitalizations-deaths-by-89-2021-11">89% reduction</a> in hospitalizations and deaths, could still have a major effect on the pandemic despite Omicron's mutations. Pfizer has said it plans to produce 80 million treatment courses by the end of 2021.Unlike the leading vaccines, these antiviral pills don't target the spike protein, so experts are confident they may still be effective against a new variant.Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO, said in a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/11/29/pfizer-ceo-on-omicron-we-could-have-a-new-vaccine-in-less-than-100-days.html">Monday interview</a> on CNBC that he had a "very, very high level of confidence that the treatment will not be affected" by Omicron.Both antiviral treatments are being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, with an expert panel set to meet on Tuesday to review and vote on Merck's drug, which was codeveloped with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.<h2>Antibody drugs could see a major shake-up in leading manufacturers </h2>There's more uncertainty with antibody drugs. These treatments are typically given as IV infusions, delivering antibodies to patients that can help fight COVID-19. A range of companies have produced antibody drugs that are now in use, including Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Vir-GlaxoSmithKline, and Celltrion.<a href="https://twitter.com/jbloom_lab/status/1464005676842184705">Preliminary research</a> from the lab of Jesse Bloom, a biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, indicated that Regeneron's drug could "take a hit," and that Lilly's cocktail could also be in trouble against the Omicron variant. But <a href="https://twitter.com/jbloom_lab/status/1464005705891868702">Bloom cautioned</a> on Twitter that it was too early to say for sure how Omicron would affect these drugs, with more research needed.Some new biotechs see Omicron as an opportunity to show the value of their approaches. Adagio, for instance, was founded in 2020 to develop a COVID-19 antibody drug that could withstand variants. Its stock has more than doubled since last Wednesday, soaring to a $4.9 billion valuation. <div type="image" title="Tillman Gerngross, CEO and cofounder of Adagio Therapeutics." height="1746" width="2328" msid="87992513" hostid="261"></div>Gerngross, Adagio's CEO, said the company's research suggested that its experimental antibody drug wasn't affected by Omicron.Adagio's antibody is still in clinical trials to see whether it can treat or prevent COVID-19, with pivotal results expected by the middle of 2022, Gerngross said. Adagio expects to produce 2 million treatment courses next year.A key challenge may be raising awareness of monoclonal antibodies with clinicians and patients, and making it easier to get access, said Dr. Kavita Patel, a primary-care physician in Washington and former White House health-policy director."It is just a beast to try to get people monoclonals," Patel said. She added that this weekend she had to send a patient to a Connecticut emergency room to get access to antibodies.Overall, Omicron may draw more attention to treatments, particularly if the vaccines are less effective against the variant."We are at a pivotal moment again in this pandemic," Gerngross said.

Omicron has drug companies preparing for the worst. Here are their plans to counterattack the newest COVID-19 variant.

Welcome to 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.If this was forwarded to you, <a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell">sign up here.</a> Plus, download Insider's app for news on the go – <a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/25788217.148160/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcHBzLmFwcGxlLmNvbS9hcHAvYXBwbGUtc3RvcmUvaWQ1NTQyNjA1NzY_cHQ9Mzg1NzU4JmN0PTA2MjkyMDIxX25ld3NsZXR0ZXJzJm10PTgmbnJfZW1haWxfcmVmZXJlcj0xJnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9U2FpbHRocnUmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1PcGVuaW5nX2JlbGw/5cf970723f92a452082ea752B3f01ff5e">click here for iOS</a> and<a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/25788217.148160/aHR0cHM6Ly9wbGF5Lmdvb2dsZS5jb20vc3RvcmUvYXBwcy9kZXRhaWxzP2lkPWNvbS5mcmVlcmFuZ2UzNjAubXBwLmJ1c2luZXNzaW5zaWRlciZucl9lbWFpbF9yZWZlcmVyPTEmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1TYWlsdGhydSZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PU9wZW5pbmdfYmVsbA/5cf970723f92a452082ea752B0911129a"> here for Android</a>.Let's jump in. 1. Metaverse madness has gripped the crypto market. Anything from real estate to high-end fashion is up for grabs in the virtual world. Last week's <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-real-estate-property-sales-virtual-land-sandbox-decentraland-2021-11">sales of virtual land</a> fetched over $2 million, and a luxury digital mega-yacht just went for an eye-watering $650,000.And it hasn't ended there. Another plot of metaverse land has just <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-property-sandbox-virtual-real-estate-deal-record-4-million-2021-11">sold for a record $4.3 million</a>, according to the Wall Street Journal.Big corporates are forging into the virtual world too. Some of the world's big luxury brands are well ahead of the game, with the likes of Dolce &amp; Gabbana and Gucci already selling non-fungible tokens — a sort of digital collector's item — of anything from virtual dresses to sneakers.Crypto asset manager Grayscale believes the metaverse could deliver <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-1-trillion-opportunity-grayscale-virual-land-sales-decentraland-2021-11">$1 trillion in annual revenue</a>, and Bank of America says it's a <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-crypto-cryptocurrencies-blockchain-technology-decentraland-bank-of-america-2021-11">"massive opportunity."</a> In case you're wondering, "the metaverse" refers to a range of online 3D virtual environments, where people can play games, build things, socialize, work and even trade and earn crypto assets. Check out play-to-earn platform Axie Infinity, and virtual worlds such as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-decentraland-festival-happening-again-next-year-nft-sandbox-2021-11">Decentraland</a> and Sandbox.But playing is a lot more expensive now than it was at the start of the year. Decentraland and Sandbox's tokens have soared from fractions of a cent to well over $5, while Axie's is now over $140, compared with just $0.50 in January. 2. US stock futures have recovered from Tuesday's Fed-led selloff. Investors are shrugging off a more hawkish note from Jerome Powell and some of the Omicron-related uncertainty. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-today-us-futures-dow-jones-omicron-jerome-powell-2021-12">Here's what is happening in markets.</a>3. As the Omicron variant rocks <keyword id="11893875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets" source="Orion">markets</keyword>, some medical stocks are poised to rally. Credit Suisse analyst Matt Miksic said Omicron's effect on the medical device industry will be much less dire than it was earlier in the pandemic. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-stocks-to-buy-omicron-variant-investing-advice-credit-suisse-2021-11">Here are the five medical device stocks he thinks will outperform the market</a>. 4. Earnings on deck: CrowdStrike and Royal Bank of Canada <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/earnings-calendar">reporting</a>.5. Bitcoin has doubled in price this year, but its gains lag far behind ether's. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has surged 530% in 2021. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/ether-versus-bitcoin-price-comparison-cryptocurrency-ethereum-metaverse-2021-11">The performance gap of more than 400 percentage points is the widest since 2015</a>. 6. A company spent $4.3 million on a virtual plot of land in the metaverse. Virtual land developer Republic Realm purchased the property from video-game company Atari. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-property-sandbox-virtual-real-estate-deal-record-4-million-2021-11">It's the biggest metaverse property sale publicized to date</a>. 7. You've heard of ConstitutionDAO but what about Big Green DAO? Elon Musk's brother Kimbal Musk launched the crypto collective to disrupt the world of philanthropy and address food injustice. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/elon-musk-brother-kimbal-musk-big-green-dao-food-inequality-2021-11">And Ark Invest's Cathie Wood is a contributor</a>. 8. Adagio Therapeutics extended a rally to over 300% in three days as Omicron emerged. Investors are betting the biotech company's antiviral drug candidate will offer protection against the variant. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/adagio-stock-price-adgi-omicron-covid-variant-antiviral-adg20-antibody-2021-11">Adagio said it expects the drug, ADG20, to be effective</a>. 9. Real-estate investor Tony Javier bought and flipped his first house two decades ago. Since then, he's flipped about 1,000 houses and still owns about 100 rental units. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investing-strategy-wholesaling-fix-flip-rental-leverage-funding-2021-11">Find out how he leverages TV commercials and gap funding to increase profits</a>.10. Edward Ryan's stock-picking advice has grabbed Wall Street's attention. Ryan, author of "The World's Simplest Stock Picking Strategy," says investing is all about personal experiences. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picking-strategy-how-to-best-simple-returns-edward-ryan-2021-11">Here are his 15 favorite stocks right now</a>.

10 things before the opening bell

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="2874738" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Psychedelics">Psychedelics</keyword> researchers <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KWf8H2pM0tlVd7niMtqeU">created a playlist</a> that runs nearly 7 hours long to guide study participants as they trip on <keyword id="788421" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="psilocybin">psilocybin</keyword>, the psychedelic found in "magic" mushrooms.</li><li>The playlist starts with slow and steady classical <keyword id="6354530" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="music">music</keyword>. A few hours in, when a person is reaching the climax of their trip, it switches to more solemn and hypnotic-sounding tracks.</li><li>The playlist ends with "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles to bring study participants out of their trips on a positive and calm note.</li></ul>Psychedelic drug researchers at Johns Hopkins carefully curated a seven-hour-long playlist to help participants in <a href="https://www.insider.com/psilocybin-magic-mushrooms-could-treat-long-term-depression-study-finds-2020-11">their most recent study</a> have the trips of their lives. The study looked at how psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in "magic" mushrooms, <a href="https://www.insider.com/psilocybin-magic-mushrooms-could-treat-long-term-depression-study-finds-2020-11">could reduce depression symptoms.</a>And, as a gift that we can all reap the benefits from, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KWf8H2pM0tlVd7niMtqeU">the researchers uploaded the playlist to Spotify</a> so anyone can enjoy the tailor-made mix of instrumental tunes.The <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2020-11/jhm-ptw110320.php">study</a> was published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2772630?resultClick=1">JAMA Psychiatry</a> on November 4 — incidentally, the day after Oregon became the first US state to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use.It was the first randomized controlled trial to look at how psilocybin administered in a clinical setting could affect people with long-term, clinically diagnosed depression. They found <a href="https://www.insider.com/psilocybin-magic-mushrooms-could-treat-long-term-depression-study-finds-2020-11">psilocybin to be four times as effective</a> as traditional anti-depressant medications for treating depression.The researchers studied 24 people who had depression for an average of 21.5 years and found, after two facilitator-assisted psilocybin trips and post-trip debrief sessions, that 67% of them reported more than a 50% decrease in depression symptoms after the first drug-trip session. After the second session, 71% of the participants said they noticed a 50% decrease in symptoms.After seeing patients four weeks following the experiment, 54% of them had no depression symptoms and were considered "in remission."<h2>Guiding people to an 'elevated state of consciousness' with music</h2>During the psilocybin sessions, each study subject lay on a couch while wearing eye shades and listening to the curated playlist through headphones. This method is common in psychedelic drug trips in clinical settings, since previous <a href="https://doubleblindmag.com/psychedelic-set-and-setting-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/">research dating back as far as 1964</a> has found the environment or "setting," as researchers refer to it, in which a person trips has a major influence on their experience.Bill Richards, who has studied psychedelics since 1963, created the playlist in 1967 and it's since transformed as other researchers have added and swapped tracks to use for their own studies. In a <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/inside-the-johns-hopkins-psilocybin-playlist?fbclid=IwAR1aO_78_bjN6KX2OC83O901Wzayr6Wi5a08I9OnMOcTYSu1qPs3c2_W7RU">blog post about the music-selection process,</a> he said soothing and predictable music with "some substance" acts as a "nonverbal support system" for a person on a psychedelic journey.The mixture of classical, Spanish guitar, and non-Western classical music in the playlist is meant to complement the emotions a person tripping will go through over their nearly six-hour session."The music chromatically develops, and it goes up and reaches this exquisite climax and then comes back down," Richards said.For example, the calm first track "Concerto F0r 2 Mandolines" helps study participants get into the right head space. Around the time they reach the peak of their trip session a few hours in, they'll hear Samuel Barber's classical hit "Adagio for Strings," which has been <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/composers/barber/music/samuel-barber-adagio-strings/">described as both hypnotic and solemn</a>. And during the trip come-down, they'll here the more hopeful and upbeat "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles.According to Richards, the music has moved his study participants decade after decade, to the point they seek and download the tunes to their personal collections."It spoke [to them]. It took on meaning in the struggle, the unfolding, the dissonance being resolved. They could understand that that type of classical music is a language about life and human experience. And when you're in the music, it's so different from listening to the music," Richards said <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/inside-the-johns-hopkins-psilocybin-playlist?fbclid=IwAR1aO_78_bjN6KX2OC83O901Wzayr6Wi5a08I9OnMOcTYSu1qPs3c2_W7RU">in the blog post</a>.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">Why psychedelics like magic mushrooms appear to kill the ego and fundamentally transform the brain</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/magic-mushrooms-depression-treatment-ssri-alternative-2019-2">Researchers think magic mushrooms could have the potential to treat depression</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/magic-mushroom-retreat-has-struggled-with-safety-staffing-2020-6">People are paying $10,000 to trip on magic mushrooms at a retreat in Jamaica. But past struggles with safety and staffing show the difficulty of taking psychedelics mainstream.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/johns-hopkins-researchers-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-medicine-legal-schedule-5-2018-10">A team of Johns Hopkins researchers is calling for magic mushrooms to be made legally available as medicine</a></li></ul>

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Adagio Therapeutics extends 3-day gain to 319% on hopes that its antiviral can treat the Omicron variant

Matthew Fox

Omicron has drug companies preparing for the worst. Here are their plans to counterattack the newest COVID-19 variant.

Andrew Dunn

10 things before the opening bell

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Listen: The playlist scientists used to unlock 'elevated states of consciousness' in people tripping on 'magic' mushrooms for a research study

Julia Naftulin

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