Monal clonal antibody
Then they replicate and manufacture them in large quantities. Making monoclonal antibodies is complex and expensive.įirst, scientists extract the relevant antibodies from human blood. Monoclonal antibodies work by binding to their specific targets – for example viruses, bacteria or cancerous cells – and making them harmless. Antibodies can be designed to attach to different molecules in the body, for example, to turn down the immune response when it overreacts this phenomenon, which also happens with some Covid-19 patients, is called a ‘cytokine storm’.ĭue to their numerous applications, monoclonal antibodies have been safely and effectively used to treat a growing number of diseases, some of which were difficult to treat in the past. This target is not always a ‘foreign intruder’, like a virus. They bind to their specific target, without harming anything else in their way. Monoclonal antibodies work in the same way too. They block the action of the target, or they flag it as foreign so that other parts of our immune system can clear the ‘invaders’ away. They work by binding to their specific targets – for example viruses, bacteria or cancerous cells – and making them harmless. How do they work?Īntibodies are proteins produced by our immune system and are one of the main ways the body defends itself against diseases. This is one of the fastest-growing fields in biomedical research, and an increasingly important segment of the pharmaceutical market – last year, seven of the top 10 best-selling drugs were monoclonal antibodies. Around 50 of these were brought to market in the past six years alone. Since then, millions of people have benefitted from more than 100 such treatments. The first monoclonal antibody product was licensed more than 30 years ago. This is why they’re sometimes called ‘designer antibodies’ – they are tailor-made to the disease they treat.
They are based on natural antibodies – which are proteins that the body produces to defend itself against disease – but are created in the lab and mass-produced in factories.
They are not chemical compounds, as most drugs are. Monoclonal antibodies are a class of medicines that have transformed the way we prevent and treat diseases, from cancer and diseases of the immune system, to childhood viral infections.