Timothy B. Niewold
As there is no pre-existing immunity to the novel causative agent, SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 pandemic is a significant global concern, and serious illnesses also have a poor prognosis. Major initiatives are underway to develop preventive steps, including vaccines and passive immunization therapies using purified immunoglobulins and recombinant monoclonal antibodies. These strategies largely focus on the virus spike (S) protein (see Glossary), which interacts via the receptor-binding domain with host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to facilitate cellular entry and viral replication. This method is intended to elicit neutralizing antibodies, although we know that neutralizing antibodies are not always adequate for other pathogens to confer a high degree of protective efficacy and may require additional immune mechanisms.
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