Monoclonal Antibodies as Potential COVID-19 Therapeutic Agents

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause tremendous loss of life and put massive strain on the functioning of societies worldwide. Despite the cataclysmic proportions of this viral outbreak, as of yet, no effective curative treatment is available. COVID-19 vaccines, while effective and a scientific achievement of historical proportions, can only be utilized in prophylaxis and require vaccination of the majority of a given population. Convalescent plasma therapies require blood group testing and patient hospitalization and are difficult to put into place in the scale of a population. Monoclonal antibodies can be mass produced with hybridoma cell culture and are highly specific to viral antigens. What is more, monoclonal antibodies produce far more reproducible effects than other approaches to active immunization and can be further enhanced through engineering. Currently, there exist two approaches to COVID-19 treatment with use of monoclonal antibodies, each with several antibodies currently under development or in clinical testing. The first of the approaches utilizes monoclonal antibodies, which target viral spike proteins to block viral entry into host cell and mark viral particles for destruction by host immune cells. The second approach utilizes antibodies that neutralize cytokines, which take part in cytokine release syndrome, which is responsible for many of the most damaging symptoms associated with COVID-19, thus reducing systemic inflammation and ultimately—patient morbidity and mortality. There yet remain several challenges to overcome if monoclonal antibodies are to become mainstream therapeutic agents in the treatment of COVID-19. Despite this, this field of research is experiencing a massive forward leap and the exceptional amount of clinical data gathered so far can serve as groundwork for the development of effective and widely available antiviral monoclonal antibody treatments.