Polyclonal hyper immunoglobulin: A proven treatment and prophylaxis platform for passive immunization to address existing and emerging diseases

ABSTRACT

Passive immunization with polyclonal hyper immunoglobulin (HIG) therapy represents a proven strategy by transferring immunoglobulins to patients to confer immediate protection against a range of pathogens including infectious agents and toxins. Distinct from active immunization, the protection is passive and the immunoglobulins will clear from the system; therefore, administration of an effective dose must be maintained for prophylaxis or treatment until a natural adaptive immune response is mounted or the pathogen/agent is cleared. The current review provides an overview of this technology, key considerations to address different pathogens, and suggested improvements. The review will reflect on key learnings from development of HIGs in the response to public health threats due to Zika, influenza, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

KEYWORDS:

• immunoglobulin
• pathogen
• infectious disease
• passive immunotherapy

Acknowledgments

Editorial support was provided by The Curry Rockefeller Group, LLC (Tarrytown, NY), and was funded by Emergent BioSolutions (Gaithersburg, MD). The authors would also like thank the TXBU Team for discussions.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

All authors are employees of Emergent BioSolutions and may own stock or stock options.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Emergent BioSolutions.