Recent progress in development of monoclonal antibodies against human cytomegalovirus

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous pathogen that can cause permanent childhood disabilities following in utero infection and life threatening diseases in immune-compromised individuals such as those post transplantation. Without an effective vaccine, small molecule antiviral drugs are routinely used in high-risk transplant recipients, but the effectiveness of which is limited by side effects and drug resistance. The potentials of antibody-based passive immune therapies alone or in combination with the small molecule antivirals to treat or prevent HCMV infection have been actively studied. In this review, we focus on the recent publications on identification and characterization of monoclonal antibodies that have the potential to be developed as anti-HCMV therapies. We review the progress in clinical evaluation of antibody-based therapies to prevent HCMV-associated diseases.