Scientists Eye Monoclonal Antibodies for Malaria as Drug Resistance Looms

Hi! It’s Madison in New York. A type of drug that became a game-changer during the pandemic may be the next big thing in malaria prevention. But first...

Most people are by now familiar with the monoclonal antibody drugs used to prevent and treat severe Covid-19 infections. But antibody drugs have a variety of other uses in medicine from cancer treatment to preventing viral illnesses like RSV. They have even shown promise in slowing disease progression from Alzheimer’s.

Soon, antibody drugs could also be used to prevent another disease: malaria. Early study results showed that when administered intravenously, a high-dose of an antibody drug developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was about 88% effective at shielding adults from infection in Mali over the 6-month malaria season.

Those results are early days, but if they hold up in later studies it could be a game-changer.

Malaria is caused by parasite-infected mosquitoes. But recently mosquitoes have begun developing resistance to insecticides intended to control their populations. Parasites resistant to some antimalarial drugs have also been found Africa and Southeast Asia.