9 Things to Know About Monoclonal Antibody Treatments for Pets

Monoclonal Antibody Treatments for Pets main graphic - 9 things to know about monoclonal antibodies

Monoclonal antibody treatments for pets offer some interesting advancements for things like parvo that haven’t had real treatment options and for things like allergies affecting dogs’ skin that often require long-term management. Here are some things you might not know about them.

1. Treatments With vetmab in the Name are Monoclonal Antibodies

mab just stands for monoclonal antibody. And, if it’s a treatment product in veterinary medicine, they add vet to mab to make vetmab.

vet + mab = vebmab

2. Monoclonal Antibodies are Clones of Proteins

The antibodies our bodies and dogs’ bodies make are proteins. Researchers can isolate and clone key proteins to use in treatments.

3. They Have a Singular Focus for Specific Targets

Monoclonal antibodies bind to specific targets in the body to do things like…

  • Block / inactivate its targeted molecule
  • Disrupt the targeted molecule’s action
  • Hasten the death of the problem cells (such as with cancer treatments)

I’m really boiling things down here, but basically monoclonal antibodies bind to just one thing — in that process, they stop or hinder whatever bad thing is happening in the body.

4. Either the FDA or the USDA Can Approve Them

Which governmental agency handles treatment evaluations and approvals depends on how the vetmab product works. If it works mostly through an immune process — either stimulating an immune response such as to help a puppy fight off parvo or modulating an existing immune response such as to treat allergies — then the USDA typically licenses those products. If the product works in other ways, then the FDA is more likely to handle approvals.

5. Monoclonal Antibodies are Species Specific

You cannot give dogs vetmabs made for cats or vice versa. This limits product development because you can’t use the same thing for all species.

6. They are Hard to Manufacture at Scale

Monoclonal antibodies are made in labs. Due to many limiting factors, they are hard to make — especially at needed scale and quality.

7. Monoclonal Antibodies Can Induce Antidrug Antibodies

These adverse reactions — particularly to so-called biologics — can be passing or permanent. They can cause the treatment to be less effective … with other downstream effects.

8. Monoclonal Antibodies Can Also Cause Other Adverse Effects

This is where we get into remember-what-happened-to-Lilly territory — with her deadly adverse vaccine reaction. Monoclonal antibodies can cause adverse reactions such as hypersensitivity and autoimmune responses. So, they can be really effective for a lot of dogs, and potentially risky for others.

9. These are the Top 5 vetmabs for Pets

  1. Lokivetmab – used to treat allergic and atopic dermatitis in dogs
  2. Bendinvetmab – used to treat osteoarthritis pain dogs
  3. Frunevetmab – used to treat osteoarthritis pain in cats
  4. Anivovetmab – used to treat canine parvovirus – Read more about that.
  5. Gilvetmab – used to treat mast cell cancerous tumors and melanomas in dogs