Therapeutic antibodies for treatment and prophylaxis of transmittable viral diseases

Abstract

The invention provides methods and compositions for the treatment and prevention of a transmittable disease in a subject, such as avians and mammals. The methods and compositions of the invention specifically make use of avian antibodies to the disease to be treated or prevented. Administration of such avian antibodies to a subject has been shown effective for reducing mortality in a population of subjects that are infected, or become infected, with the disease. The invention also provides kits useful for detecting the presence of transmittable diseases in subjects.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 595,652, filed Jul. 25, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention is directed to compositions and the use thereof in the treatment and prevention of transmittable diseases, and particularly viral diseases. The compositions incorporate serum comprising avian antibodies against the transmittable disease, and the compositions can be used in a variety of subjects, including avians and mammals. BACKGROUND [0003] Previously known approaches to dealing with epidemiological outbreaks of transmittable clinical diseases have traditionally focused on three approaches: isolation of affected individuals; use of antimicrobial agents, and use of vaccinations. Antimicrobial agents have been used successfully for treatment once the pathogen has been identified; however, if the microorganism is re...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating and preventing infection in a subject by a transmittable viral disease. The compositions comprise avian antibodies against the viral disease, such as West Nile Virus, and can be administered to the subject through various routes, such as injection, inhalation, or orally. The invention also provides a diagnostic kit for detecting the presence of a transmittable viral disease in a sample using avian polyclonal antibodies. The technical effects of the invention include reducing mortality in animals infected with a transmittable viral disease and detecting the presence of the disease in a sample."

Problems solved by technology

Antimicrobial agents have been used successfully for treatment once the pathogen has been identified; however, if the microorganism is resistant to the antimicrobial agent, there are limited or no options other than relying on the patient's own immune system for recovery or survival (in the case of life-threatening infections).

The underlying flaws of vaccinations are its safety, lack of protection against diverse strains causing the disease, availability of sufficient supplies of the vaccine, and most importantly, administration of the vaccine in sufficient time prior to infection to elicit an immune response in the patient against the pathogen.

Unfortunately, in the event that the population is not vaccinated by the time an outbreak reaches epidemic proportions, a vaccination program that requires multiple injections over a significant period of time would have very limited effectiveness in protecting the population.

In addition, individuals having impaired immunity (i.e., are immunodeficient) would be unable to generate an effective response.

Moreover, given the high cost of a broad vaccination program, the general population has been vaccinated to only a limited number of pathogens.

Alternatively, a recombinant mouse monoclonal antibody can be engineered with human sequences (generally referred to as a “humanized antibody”) and produced in large quantities, albeit at expensive costs that may be prohibitory for broad use.

A severe drawback of the use of monoclonal antibodies is that they recognize only a single site or epitope on the microorganism, which is not as effective as polyclonal antibodies that recognize multiple sites.

Another limitation of monoclonal antibody treatment is that monoclonal antibodies offer limited protection to pathogens where the epitope is not conservatively maintained, such as a pathogen having numerous species or viral pathogens that prone to a higher mutation frequency.

Further, no studies, either prophylactic for protection or post-infection for therapy, have demonstrated effectiveness of immunoglobulin treatment in animals that become infected by natural transmission of West Nile Virus.

In a separate report by Jackson, Can. J. Neurol. Sci., 2004, however, a patient showed no beneficial effect upon similar treatment.