Recently, there has been a rapid rise in the research, development, and marketing of monoclonal antibody-mediated treatments. Such treatments involve the use of monoclonal antibodies that bind to specific targets (cells or proteins) and stimulate the body’s own immune system to attack and kill those targets. Indeed, the success stories of a number of monoclonal antibody drugs have drawn extensive attention from both the pharmaceutical industry as well as biotechnology R&D sectors. The most prominent examples include rituximab (Rituxan®, Roche) that treats diseases or conditions associated with excessive B cell proliferation including leukemia and transplant rejection, infliximab (Remicade®, Janssen) that targets TNF-alpha to treat autoimmune diseases like psoriasis and bevacizumab (Avastin®, Roche) that curbs angiogenesis thus inhibits specific metastatic cancers.
Extensive investments have been infused into this relatively new field of pharmaceutical research and gained significant levels of revenue. For example, Avastin® itself has generated more than 6.3 billion USD in sales for Roche in 2012. However, before making the decision of putting additional investments into this field, it may be interesting and beneficial to look back and read the history of development of monoclonal antibody techniques, at the very least, as a side-note.
The book The Lock and Key of Medicine: Monoclonal Antibodies and the Transformation of Healthcare by Lara Marks, a historian of medicine, employs a narrative approach in introducing the initial discovery, research applications, early serum-based treatments, emergence of hybridoma technology, and final pharmaceutical applications. Spanning across more than 150 years of history, this book condenses all the important milestones within approximately 350 pages, which provides an indispensable resource equally for researchers, potential investors/decision makers, as well as hobbyists who are interested in the history of science.
Different populations of readers may highlight different chapters of the book for their own background and expertise. Analysts and patent solicitors may immediately notice the failure of the UK National Research and Development Corporation to see the potential of monoclonal antibody technology and seek a patent for the hybridoma technology – by which a highly similar technology was patented in the US to leave their UK counterparts in dismay. In contrast, venture capitalists and biotech investors may give more attention and interest to the last few chapters which describe the commercialization of the first few monoclonal antibody drugs.
As a closing remark, I recommend this book not only to people within the monoclonal antibody field but to the general population perhaps interested in seeking commercial opportunities from traditional research and exploring how this 150-year old technology has been revitalized with modern research to ultimately generate such hefty profits. This history of monoclonal antibodies and its commercialization provides an indispensable reference and offers valuable experience to any start-ups who are about to enter this field.
References:
The Lock and Key of Medicine: Monoclonal Antibodies and the Transformation of Healthcare (Lara V. Marks Yale Univ. Press: 2015. ISBN: 9780300167733)
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