The Promise of Monoclonal Antibodies

Much attention has been given to drugs and vaccines under development for Covid-19, but several experts are turning to monoclonal antibodies as a potential therapy. As Markham Heid reports for Elemental, monoclonal antibodies are drugs that contain specialized proteins that are intended to stop SARS-CoV-2 from infecting healthy cells. “In many ways, these drugs do the work of a vaccine, only they do it more quickly and efficiently — if also less durably,” Heid writes.

The National Institutes of Health is on board. “Antibody-based therapies may offer one of the best…