Latest advances in antibody delivery mediated by rAAV for treatment of chronic and infectious diseases

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) based-therapies have revolutionized treatments of cancer and autoimmune diseases because of their specificity and limited toxicity. Vectored-antibody delivery through the use of recombinant Adenovirus-Associated Virus (rAAV) is a novel therapeutic approach currently evaluated in vivo. The rAAV is used to transfer the genes encoding the mAbs (and similar molecules) directly into the cells. The transduced cells turn into "cellular factories" capable of sustainable production of therapeutic antibodies. The long-lasting therapeutic effects conferred by rAAV have considerable advantages for different applications.

• Intuitively advantageous for the treatment of various chronic diseases (e.g. Cancer, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer's disease, drug addictions and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
• Long-term preventive immunization, to control (e.g. by preventing virus resurgence) and to suppress a number of infectious diseases (e.g. Ebola, prions, HIV, Hepatitis C, Anthrax, Malaria, Influenza and RSV diseases)
• Safety and efficacy are additional features of rAAV that are highly desirable for vectored-antibody delivery.

More than 40 scientific papers have explored the potential of this novel therapeutic approach with the demonstration of promising pre-clinical data. In a review paper entitled "Antibody Delivery Mediated by Recombinant Adeno-associated Virus for the Treatment of Various Chronic and Infectious Diseases", researchers M.-A Robert, R. Gilbert and B. Gaillet describe the latest developments in the field. Different topics are discussed such as: advantages and limitations of vectored-antibody delivery using rAAV, vector design, antibody engineering and pre-clinical results. This excellent review was published on January 2nd, 2017 "Current Gene Therapy" (Vol 16, issue 6)

Source: Bentham Science Publishers