Abstract
Since the first approval of monoclonal antibodies by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1986, therapeutic antibodies have become one of the predominant classes of drugs in oncology and immunology. Despite their natural function in contributing to antiviral immunity, antibodies as drugs have only more recently been thought of as tools for combating infectious diseases. Passive immunization, or the delivery of the products of an immune response, offers near-immediate protection, unlike the active immune processes triggered by traditional vaccines, which rely on the time it takes for the host’s immune system to develop an effective defense. This rapid onset of protection is particularly well suited to containing outbreaks of emerging viral diseases. Despite these positive attributes, the high cost associated with antibody manufacture and the need for a cold chain for storage and transport limit their deployment on a global scale, especially in areas with limited resources. The in vivo transfer of nucleic acid-based technologies encoding optimized therapeutic antibodies transform the body into a bioreactor for rapid and sustained production of biologics and hold great promise for circumventing the obstacles faced by the traditional delivery of antibodies. In this review, we provide an overview of the different antibody delivery strategies that are currently being developed, with particular emphasis on in vivo transfection of naked plasmid DNA facilitated by electroporation.
Highlights
Administration (FDA) in 1986, therapeutic antibodies have become one of the predominant classes of drugs in oncology and immunology
MAbs can prevent viral spread through the recruitment, mediated by their Fc domain, of additional immune cells to infected cells, thereby triggering their removal via a variety of mechanisms such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) [1,2]
Have demonstrated high potency in neutralizing the virus ex vivo and in protecting against virus infection and virus spread post-infection in preclinical models such as mice, hamsters, and nonhuman primates (NHPs). Some of these Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are currently being tested in the clinic, and four combinations have received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of individuals testing positive for the virus
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Have demonstrated high potency in neutralizing the virus ex vivo and in protecting against virus infection and virus spread post-infection in preclinical models such as mice, hamsters, and nonhuman primates (NHPs) (reviewed in [34]). Some of these mAbs are currently being tested in the clinic, and four combinations have received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA for the treatment of individuals testing positive for the virus. A cocktail of two mAbs developed by Regeneron received a EUA by the FDA on 21 November 2020 for the treatment of COVID-19, only 8 months after the disease had been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO)
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