Quantum leap of monoclonal antibody (mAb) discovery and development in the COVID-19 era.
Semin Immunol
; 50: 101427, 2020 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-926771
ABSTRACT
In recent years the global market for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) became a multi-billion-dollar business. This success is mainly driven by treatments in the oncology and autoimmune space. Instead, development of effective mAbs against infectious diseases has been lagging behind. For years the high production cost and limited efficacy have blocked broader application of mAbs in the infectious disease space, which instead has been dominated for almost a century by effective and cheap antibiotics and vaccines. Only very few mAbs against RSV, anthrax, Clostridium difficile or rabies have reached the market. This is about to change. The development of urgently needed and highly effective mAbs as preventive and therapeutic treatments against a variety of pathogens is gaining traction. Vast advances in mAb isolation, engineering and production have entirely shifted the cost-efficacy balance. MAbs against devastating diseases like Ebola, HIV and other complex pathogens are now within reach. This trend is further accelerated by ongoing or imminent health crises like COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where antibodies could be the last resort. In this review we will retrace the history of antibodies from the times of serum therapy to modern mAbs and lay out how the current run for effective treatments against COVID-19 will lead to a quantum leap in scientific, technological and health care system innovation around mAb treatments for infectious diseases.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Semin Immunol
Journal subject:
Allergy and Immunology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.smim.2020.101427
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS