You've probably heard the good news about monoclonal antibody infusion therapy, and the positive results one may obtain in the employment of these into your body. But do you know the facts? Are there different options available in for this treatment? What are monoclonal antibodies? Where do they come from? How do they make them? Where are they made and when Is the best time frame to employ their therapeutic benefit? Is this an option that I want to take advantage of? Unless you understand the answers to the above questions, how will you be able to make the correct decision for yourself or for one who depends upon your good judgement and responsible decision making?
Lets look at the word monoclonal antibodies. The word "monoclonal describes a type of antibody. But to begin with lets find out exactly what an antibody is and what is an antigen?
What are antibodies and What are antigens?
An antibody is a protein component of the immune system that circulates in the blood, recognizes foreign substances like bacteria and viruses, and neutralizes them. After exposure to a foreign substance, called an antigen, antibodies continue to circulate in the blood for a time, providing protection against future exposures to that antigen. There are basically two kinds of antibodies. Antibodies are special cells who are part of your body's immune system. These antibodies live in a cell family called lymphocytes or (White Blood Cells). There are many members in this family. Antibodies are lymphocytes too, but these are special. These are soldiers in the lymphocyte army. Like all armies there are soldiers who are on the front lines for defense. These soldiers see an enemy and kill them. This frontline soldier in the army of your lymphocyte army are called T killer cells. This makes them a special family member of Anti-bodies. T cells do their job and kill but then they become weak and die off. In natural human immunity, new T cells replace those no longer available. When this happens our army becomes weaker and our immunity wanes. But the truly remarkable human body has a 2nd line of defense. B-cells come to the rescue! B cells help. These are also in your lymphocyte army. And they have a very special job. B helper cells float around your bloodstream and write down in their memory who the enemy is. Once the enemy is inside their memory, the B cells send a signal to home base about the enemy. Our home base makes specific T -killer cells again. B cells give specific information and tell the home base to make T cells to recognize and kill specific enemies. Enemies are different shapes and made of different materials. One enemy could be a long rod shaped bacteria, another could be a simple foreign worm with a tail, and still another could be a hard a unique enveloped virus. B cells identify exactly who the enemy is! The B cells or B-helper cell remember who the enemy is and tells the home base to make more front line T antibody cells to fight the specific enemy. Sometimes the B cells will remember the enemy for your entire life. Sometimes for 30 years, and sometimes less. B helper cells create immunity for you against an enemy. Even more amazing is that when the front line T antibody quantity of fighters gets too low and the body doesn't have enough of them, then after a bit more time the B cells will jump in to help out themselves, and can even make us some T cell fighters too. But their main job is to remember the enemy. So we see how unique and amazing our Antibodies are to our human body's health and wellness. But what about the enemy? Our human bodies live in a world with enemies. Once our bodies come into contact with an enemy they are marked! Once they are marked they are called Antigens. Each killer T cell will have the ability to attach itself to the antigen's threatening claws. The T cells will lock together that antigen's claws so it can no long attach itself to our healthy cells. They do this by making a special antigen binding fragment. T cell combined with memory B cells render the enemy useless!
The diagram above is an easy depiction of a T cell (lymphocyte). this shows the T cell antigen fragment area where it attaches itself to the antigen rendering the enemy antigen to be useless to attacking our healthy cells. The fit is precise and only fits ONE antigen at a time.
What is an immune response? In simple terms, this is the reaction of your human body when a foreign substance, cell or virus (pathogens) or an IMBALANCE occurs. Our bodies get ready for war. Our temperature goes up, wounds swell at the site of an injury, blood vessels may enlarge or constrict. Signs and symptoms of the enemy's attack or an illness may begin to occur and may or may not be noticeable. A low grade temperature is a good indicator of an infectious process beginning.
Now that you have been introduced to the very basics of your immune system's fighting army of T and B cells, lets find out what monoclonal antibodies are and where they come from.
Monoclonal Antibody Infusions are antibodies that are similar to the ones your body would naturally make in response to a specific infection. However, monoclonal antibody infusions are mass-produced in a laboratory and are designed to recognize a specific component of this virus — the spike protein on its outer shell.
According to Houston Methodist.org: By targeting the spike protein, these specific antibodies interfere with the virus' ability to attach and gain entry into human cells. They give the immune system a leg up until it can mount its own response. (Aug 2021--Houston Methodist has resumed its monoclonal antibody infusions with Strovimab, which has shown to be effective against the COVID-19 omicron variant. ) (this is reported but the latest research does not uphold this statement!!!)
Monoclonal Antibody Infusions are not necessarily derived from human blood cell lines. Most people are unaware of the method used in creating the Monoclonal Antibody infusion recipes.
Monoclonal Antibodies ( MONO =one; Clonal=similarly alike ) are synthesized or manufactured in laboratories, manufactured in quantities per recipe or genome structure, packaged and sold to various governments, agencies, hospitals, clinics and such for intravenous infusion into patients by a physician's order. One hospital may use one brand or another depending on their contracts. Below is an example of a commercial laboratory who sells monoclonal antibodies for various uses in laboratories, research and for a pharmaceutical company's desire to manufacture a specific monoclonal antibody therapy. ProMab below is a supplier for the users mentioned above.
The genome sequencing for monoclonal antibodies are derived from other than human sources. Some sources are hamsters, rabbits and mice. It is well known that monkeys are used for various genome sequencings purposed for specific drugs, as are other life-forms. See the examples below:
( Taken from their website https://www.promab.com/ ) " ProMab Biotechnologies dedicated itself from the first day to develop monoclonal antibodies almost exclusively. We offer a completely human Fab library, constituting sequences derived from the antibody repertoire of approximately 120 individuals, with a diversity/complexity of approximately 1 x 10¹¹ clones. Alternatively, we can humanize non-human antibodies (antibodies raised, for example, in a mouse or rat host towards a human target molecule) , requiring the modification of the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) to increase their similarity to human antibody variants.
We have an onsite vivarium and working to establish a GMP facility soon. We keep a veterinarian on staff to make sure our rabbits and other animals are in the best health."
Below one can see from the promotional advertisement on their website the monoclonal antibody derivatives they offer.This particular biotechnology company offers 4 distinct types of genome sequenced product lines for manufacturing of monoclonal antibody infusion products.
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According to IHS: the following monoclonal antibody infusion therapies are under EUA (emergency use authorization only --has been continued since December of 2021. FDA approval is yet to be gained for these drugs below at the present time.
Portfolio of Products (taken from IHS website)
Molnupiravir
Paxlovid
EVUSHELD (AZD7442)
Sotrovimab
REGEN-COV
Bamlanivimab/etesevimab
Bamlanivimab
****13 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Sotrovimab is a human immunoglobulin G-1 (IgG1-kappa) monoclonal antibody consisting of 2 identical light chain (LC) polypeptides composed of 214 amino acids each and 2 identical heavy chain (HC) polypeptides, each composed of 457 amino acids. Sotrovimab is produced by a Chinese Hamster Ovary cell line and has a molecular weight of approximately 149 kDa. (Take a look above at the diagram marked **** and find the light chain.)
I leave this question with you, the reader: Do you know someone who has received or will receive a monoclonal antibody infusion? Do you know, or do they know where it came from? This information is encoded on every vial that is mixed with IV fluid. Unless a person comprehends the meaning of the coded letters, they would not be able to answer this question.