Therapeutic antibodies in HIV treatment--classical approaches to novel advances.

Therapeutic antibodies have evolved into an important drug class and have achieved considerable success in combating cancers and autoimmune diseases. Although their potential in the treatment of viral infections has not yet been fully explored, recently established approaches have the potential to aid the development of HIV specific antibody therapies. Antibody engineering has led to improvements in antibody isolation and increases in antibody efficacy and potency. Strategies have been developed to tailor Fc recruitment of effector functions, and conjugation of monoclonals to toxins endows them with the ability to mediate destruction of specific target cells. These technical advances introduce the possibility of designing a therapy to target and clear cells infected with a broad range of HIV strains and recommend some hypothetical clinical settings in which advanced antibody therapeutics could be employed in prophylaxis or therapy for HIV infection.