In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported roughly 3 to 5 million cases of severe influenza worldwide, resulting in approximately 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. Given the high disease burden, the needs for both prophylactic and therapeutic influenza strategies remain significant. However, current treatments for influenza are susceptible to resistance and are useful for only a limited post-infection period.    

The highly conserved epitopes in the stem region of the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein are ideal targets for new vaccines, as they elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies. In light of this, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) cloned and expressed HA stem-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from B cells isolated from human participants in influenza vaccine clinical trials. Four mAbs exhibited particularly potent neutralizing profiles against H1N1 strains, three exhibited very strong neutralization profiles against H3N2 strains, and two exhibited a good neutralization profile across all subtypes tested. These mAbs may help to substantially reduce global influenza disease burden given their potential to become effective therapeutic and prophylactic agents against a broad range of H1N1 and H3N2 influenza strains.

This technology is available for licensing for commercial development in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 209 and 37 CFR Part 404, as well as for further development and evaluation under a research collaboration.