Leveraging monoclonal antibodies as therapeutics to address antimicrobial resistance in bacteria

Abstract

Over the past two decades, several technologies have become available to rapidly develop therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against any target of interest. Consequently, antibodies have emerged as key biologics for the treatment of various forms of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a condition, wherein the microbes evolve and stop responding to the available treatment options. The development of AMR makes it harder to treat infections resulting in increased severity of disease, deaths, and risk of infection spread. Driven by the misuse of antibiotics, globally, there has been a consistent spread of multi-and pan-resistant bacteria that are untreatable with the existing antibiotics. Unfortunately, the emergence of AMR bacteria outpaces the rate at which new antibiotics are being discovered. Therefore, due to the ever-increasing burden of AMR, there is an unmet need for next-generation strategies to combat infections. With the approval of several MAbs for treatment of various conditions and three MAbs for the treatment of bacterial infections, they are currently being explored as a therapeutic alternative for the treatment of AMR bacteria. It is envisaged that antibody-based drugs can be administered as a standalone therapy or as an adjunct therapy in combination with antibiotics for improved efficacy and hold promise to address the problem of AMR. This review describes the strategies employed for the development of antibody-based drugs and discusses the MAbs that are already approved as therapeutics or are at various stages of the drug development pipeline for the treatment of bacterial infections.