What happened? Shares of Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ: VIR) soared on Monday after the company announced some exciting news regarding its efforts to develop a treatment for COVID-19. Specifically, promising research findings from Vir's attempts to defeat COVID-19 were published in a paper in the journal Nature, one of the world's leading science journals. Vir's stock closed the day up by 32.1%. So what The paper in question, entitled "Cross-neutralization of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 by a human monoclonal antibody" (Pinto, et al., Nature), describes how an antibody called S309 was isolated from a patient who recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) back in 2003. According to the authors of the paper, S309 "has been shown to prevent SARS-CoV-2 live virus infection of cells." This promising antibody could remain effective even if the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, at least according to Vir's Chief Scientific Officer, Herbert Virgin. Vir is now moving forward in its quest to develop a treatment for COVID-19. The company's leading therapies for the rapidly spreading disease are called VIR-7831 and VIR-7832, and both are based on S309. Vir is collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) in this potentially lucrative project, and the two companies expect to start clinical testing this summer. Image Source: Getty Images. Now what The race to find a vaccine or a treatment for COVID-19 is heating up, and investors continue to load up on shares of those companies that are at the forefront of this hunt. This explains why Vir's shares have soared by more than 200% year to date. However, there are still many roadblocks the biotech company will have to overcome before it can hope to market any treatment for COVID-19. And given that a lot can go wrong for Vir in the meantime, it might be best to watch this one from the sidelines. 10 stocks we like better than Vir Biotechnology IncWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Vir Biotechnology Inc wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of April 16, 2020 Prosper Junior Bakiny has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source