Monoclonal antibodies key to combating infectious diseases

Researchers maintain monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) may play a critical role in future battles against emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Work of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) published in the New England Journal of Medicine outlined potential uses for mAbs as infectious disease treatments and a prevention tool for protecting individuals at risk of infection and slowing disease outbreaks.

Authors noted during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, a small clinical trial of the drug ZMapp, which contains three different mAbs, appeared to show a drop in mortality among infected volunteers who received the experimental treatment.

Researchers further referenced work in laboratory animals suggests mAbs may play a role in protecting pregnant women in Zika-endemic areas and their fetuses from infection.

Investigators acknowledge mAb-based treatment may be costly to develop and deploy initially and should be used judiciously.

But they note prices will likely fall in the future, as target optimization may offer effectiveness with smaller amounts of antibody or new approaches such as delivering antibodies through DNA or mRNA constructs.

NIAID officials said the agency conducts and supports research via the National Institutes of Health, as a means of studying the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases while developing better methods of preventing, diagnosing and treating illnesses.