Significant Broad Spectrum Antiviral activity of Bi121 Against Different Variants of SARS-CoV-2

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic infected 343 million people with over 5.59 million deaths. New mutated lineages of SARS-CoV-2 such as Omicron are evolving faster. Broad-spectrum viral inhibitors that block the initial stage of infection by reducing virus proliferation and disease severity is an unmet global medical need. We studied Bi121, a standardized polyphenolic-rich compound isolated from Pelargonium sidoides , against recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (rVSV)-pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2S (spike) that represent mutations in the spike protein of six different variants of SARS-CoV-2. Bi121 was effective in neutralizing all six rVSV-ΔG-SARS-CoV-2S variants expressing different mutations. The antiviral activity of Bi121 was then assessed against three variants of SARS-CoV-2 (USA WA1/2020, Hongkong/VM20001061/2020, B.1.167.2 (Delta)) using RT-qPCR and plaque assays in two different cell lines (Vero cells and HEK-ACE2). Bi121 showed significant activity toward all the three variants tested, suggesting a broad-spectrum activity. ### Competing Interest Statement All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: AS has received research grants from Biom Pharmaceutical Corporation and Council Of Scientific and Industrial Research, Govt of India to conduct the SARS-CoV-2 research in this article. BS is an executive leadership member at Biom Pharmaceutical Corporations management team. Bi121 formulation and its use against coronaviruses are protected by a US patent application.