Monoclonal Antibodies for Pre- and Postexposure Prophylaxis of COVID-19: Review of the Literature

Serena Vita; Silvia Rosati; Tommaso Ascoli Bartoli; Alessia Beccacece; Alessandra D'Abramo; Andrea Mariano; Laura Scorzolini; Delia Goletti; Emanuele Nicastri

doi:10.3390/pathogens11080882

Monoclonal Antibodies for Pre- and Postexposure Prophylaxis of COVID-19: Review of the Literature

Pathogens. 2022 Aug 5;11(8):882. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11080882.

Authors

Serena Vita¹, Silvia Rosati¹, Tommaso Ascoli Bartoli¹, Alessia Beccacece¹, Alessandra D'Abramo¹, Andrea Mariano¹, Laura Scorzolini¹, Delia Goletti¹, Emanuele Nicastri¹

Affiliation

¹ Clinical Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful microorganisms, including viruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medical Agency (EMA) have already authorized monoclonal antibodies of anti-SARS-CoV-2 to treat mild to moderate CoronaVIrus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) in patients at risk of developing severe disease. More recently, monoclonal antibodies anti-SARS-CoV-2 have been authorized for primary and secondary prophylaxis in patients at high risk of severe disease for background comorbidity. Primary or pre-exposure prophylaxis prevents COVID-19 in unexposed people, whereas secondary or postexposure prophylaxis prevent COVID-19 in recently exposed people to individuals with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2. This review focuses briefly on therapeutic indications of currently available monoclonal antibodies for COVID-19 pre- and postexposure prophylaxis and on the efficacy of convalescent plasma.

Keywords: COVID-19; monoclonal antibodies; prophylaxis.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Italian Ministry of Health (Linea 1 Ricerca Corrente: Studio dei patogeni ad alto impatto sociale: emergenti, da importazione, multiresistenti, negletti). Fundings were also received from generous liberal donations funding for COVID-19 research from Esselunga S.p.A., Camera di Commercio, Industria e Artigianato di Roma, Società Numero Blu Servizi S.p.A., Fineco Bank S.p.A., Associazione magistrati della Corte dei conti, and Società Mocerino Frutta Secca s.r.l. (resolutions n° 395 of May 25, 2021, n°254 of 24 April 2021, and n°257 of 14 April 2021). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.