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Abstract
Since the discovery of the human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV), multiple research efforts have been conducted to develop vaccines and treatments capable of reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, long-term sequelae, and death from this pathogen in susceptible populations. In this sense, therapies specifically directed against hRSV are mainly based on monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies such as intravenous IgG (IVIG)-RSV and the monoclonal antibody palivizumab. However, these therapies are associated with significant limitations, including the need for the recruitment of a high number of convalescent volunteers who donate blood to procure IVIG-RSV and the costs associated with the need for repeated administrations of palivizumab. These limitations render this product not cost-effective for populations other than high-risk patients. These problems have underscored that it is still necessary to identify new safe and effective therapies for human use. However, these new therapies must benefit from a comparatively cheap production cost and the opportunity to be available to the high-risk population and anyone who requires treatment. Here, we review the different antibodies used to prevent the pathology caused by hRSV infection, highlighting therapies currently approved for human use and their clinical value. Also, the new, most promising candidates based on preclinical studies and clinical trial results are revised.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by funding from the Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy ANID ACE 210015 (CN09_016/ICN 2021_045; former P09/016-F (AMK); CORFO grant #13CTI-21526/P4 and P5; ANID/FONDEF IDEA grant #22I10252 (AMK); PAI SA77210051 (JAS); ANID/CONICYT National Doctoral Scholarship #21221163 (BDV) and Biomedical Research Consortium CTU06 (AMK). This work was also supported by the Regional Government of Antofagasta through the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness FICR 2017 (BIP Code: 30488811-0) and FONDECYT Regular grant Nº1231866 (JAS) FONDECYT Regular grant N°T1191300 (CAR). Finally, we thank Biorender for making their templates available online, which we employed to construct the figure in this article.
Disclosure
Dr Alexis M Kalergis reports grants from Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy CORFO, ANID, PAI, ANID, Biomedical Research Consortium, Regional Government of Antofagasta, during the conduct of the study; In addition, Dr Alexis M Kalergis has a patent (Monoclonal Antibody specific against the antigen N of the Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (VRSH), useful for the treatment of infection, its detection and diagnosis) PCT/CL2018/050079 issued to PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.