3 ms·

Monoclonal antibody drugs will flood the market soon and usher in a new era of treatment for several diseases (MS, AD, certain cancers, etc). https://en.wikipe

• type0 7y ago
  And how could that "flooding" happen? that still would be produced from the living cells, cell division is slow. If breakthrough happens, such synthetically produced antibodies would not be called monoclonal and instead we'll hear some new marketing name there.
  • abhisuri97 7y ago
    Monoclonal antibodies are just antibodies that are monospecific (ie they bind one target really well). And it looks like there a number of drugs under this category (anything ending in -mab usually) are in stage II/III of clinical trials (meaning they are likely to be approved in the coming years). What you mention about cell division rates being slow was solved by the hybridoma protocol where you fuse two cells, one of which is a myeloma (cancer that is a rapidly reproducing cell line) and another is a B cell that produces Antibodies that are specific for your intended target. Since then there have been a lot of strides in monoclonal antibody production. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoclonal_antibody#Production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoclonal_antibody#Production]
    • type0 7y ago
      > cell division rates being slow was solved by the hybridoma protocol It's still cell division, nowhere near the speed and cost of chemically produced drugs.