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During the past century, influenza A pandemics have killed 50 to 100 million people. Each pandemic followed viral acquisition of a hemagglutinin (HA) envelope glycoprotein, which allowed the virus to evade the prevailing immunity in human populations. Although current influenza vaccines are potent, they elicit antibodies only to specific strains, necessitating new preparations each year. Now, two research groups have discovered antibodies with broader activity.
Ekiert and colleagues (some of them employed by a pharmaceutical company) studied antibody CR6261, which neutralizes at least six influenza virus subtypes and, when administered ≤5 days postinfection, protects mice against lethal challenge with H1 and H5 viruses. In experiments involv…