Antiviral Monoclonal Antibody Therapies

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are attractive novel antiviral therapies that can provide protection when administered prophylactically and/ or post-exposure. Additionally, they can offer protection to vulnerable or immunocompromised individuals that are unable to mount their own immune response. Antiviral mAbs have been described for a wide range of viruses, such as filoviruses, coronaviruses, flaviviruses, orthomyxoviruses, hantaviruses and many others; however, to date only three antiviral mAbs have received full FDA approval. Production of mAbs has advanced dramatically since the introduction of hybridoma technology in 1975. Today, several platforms exist for the generation of humanized mAbs, for example, phage display, yeast display, mammalian display, viral display, immortalized human B cells and transgenic mice. Potent mAb candidates can be engineered to better bind their target, leverage the host immune response, and better penetrate tissue via affinity maturation, modification of the Fc receptor, and CDR grafting, respectively. Bispecific and multispecific antibodies have also gathered traction and have been shown to confer many benefits over conventional monospecific antibodies, including, the reduction of escape mutations, lower manufacturing
costs, recruitment of effector cells, and targeted delivery. The potential of mAbs as novel antivirals is evident, and interest and research in this field is continuing to expand.

This Research Topic aims to create a comprehensive body of work that describes the most up-to-date antiviral monoclonal antibody efforts. We welcome original manuscripts and review articles that focus on the following (non-exclusive) topics:

1. Antibody engineering and optimization
2. In-vitro and in-vivo assessment
3. Fc-mediated functions
4. DNA and mRNA encoded platforms
5. Effector cell engagement
6. Broadly neutralizing mAbs
7. Viral-dependent and host-dependent mAbs
8. Structural and functional analyses