Editorial
Therapeutic antibodies: Discovery, design and deployment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molimm.2015.05.004Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Therapeutic antibodies are the largest class of biopharmaceuticals for human disease.

  • Engineering strategies are driving targeted antibody and cell-based immunotherapies.

  • This issue covers the discovery, design and deployment of antibodies as therapeutic agents.

Abstract

Therapeutic antibodies have come of age with major progress being made in cancer, autoimmunity and chronic inflammation, as well as a wide range of other human diseases. Antibody engineering is further driving development of novel antibody formats and genetically modified cell-based therapies that harness the power of the immune system to progress cures in otherwise intractable human diseases. Nevertheless, there are still significant challenges ahead for basic and applied research relating to therapeutic antibodies. This special issue of the journal provides reviews and opinions that relate to the discovery, design and deployment of antibodies as therapeutics.

Section snippets

Conflicts of interest

P.A.R., none to declare; A.T.H. is a former employee of Immune System Therapeutics Ltd; P.J.C., none to declare.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution toward this study from the Victorian Operational Infrastructure Support Program received by the Burnet Institute. A.T.H. is supported by a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Technology Sydney as well as a Fulbright Scholarship from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission.

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