Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for Ebola hemorrhagic fever

Ebola virus (EBOV) causes a fulminant infection and rapid progression to death in humans and nonhuman primates. Although of relatively low consequence to public health worldwide, Ebola virus has been one of the most challenging infectious agents to control through prophylaxis or therapeutic interventions, and there are currently no commercially available vaccines or treatments. Antibody therapy against EBOV infection has received only modest interest in the last decades, as the efficacy of passive immunization with convalescent human sera used for treatment in clinical cases was controversial, and early experiments for monoclonal antibody (mAb)-induced protection in NHPs were inconclusive. However, studies over the last two years have suggested potential for effective antibody treatment of EBOV infections in NHPs and opened the doors for therapeutic use of mAbs against filovirus infections. In this chapter, we review and present our perspectives on the recent progress of mAb-based therapies against EBOV infection.