Three-in-One Antibody Prevents Acquisition by Monkeys of an SHIV Virus

Researchers are evaluating recently identified broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAb) for their ability to prevent and treat HIV. However, administration of a single bNAb rapidly selects for viral resistance, which significantly impairs its activity. Now, investigators report the development of a trispecific bNAb that has the potential to overcome this problem.

The trispecific antibody was engineered to bind to three different nonoverlapping sites on the virus. When its neutralization activity was tested against a large panel of HIV strains in vitro, the trispecific antibody was more potent and exhibited greater breadth than any single antibody yet discovered. The ability of the trispecific antibody to block infection was then tested in monk…