Antibody cocktails: next-generation biopharmaceuticals with improved potency

• Published in: Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.) Vol. 25; no. 9; pp. 390 - 394
• Main Author: Logtenberg, Ton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2007; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified - immunology; Antibodies, Monoclonal - biosynthesis; Antibodies, Monoclonal - pharmacokinetics; Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Biopharmaceutics - trends; Biotechnology; Clinical trials; Clinical Trials as Topic; Cytokines; Disease transmission; Drug Therapy, Combination; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic engineering; Health. Pharmaceutical industry; Humans; Immune system; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Internal Medicine; Monoclonal antibodies; Pharmaceutical industry; Polyclonal antibodies; Production of active biomolecules; Protein Engineering - methods; Recombinant Proteins - biosynthesis; Recombinant Proteins - immunology; Rodents; Technological change; Transgenic animals; Human; Monoclonal antibody; Review; Recombinant protein; Biopharmaceuticals; Efficiency
• ISSN: 0167-7799; 1879-3096
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2007.07.005

The therapeutic and commercial success of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has inspired innovative approaches aimed at increasing their potency and broadening their applicability. Among these, cocktails of recombinant human mAbs are a logical next step because they combine the technological advances made in the field of antibody engineering with the notion that the ingredients of polyclonal-antibody preparations act in concert to optimally exert and recruit effector functions. Cocktails of mAbs have entered clinical trials, and new technology platforms are being developed for their generation. On the basis of preclinical and early clinical results, the question is not whether cocktails of mAbs have a bright future as therapeutics, but rather what platform is able to reproducibly and cost effectively generate efficacious concoctions that are approvable by the regulatory authorities.