Towards better antivenoms: navigating the road to new types of snakebite envenoming therapies

Snakebite envenoming is a significant global health challenge, and for over a century, traditional plasma-derived antivenoms from hyperimmunized animals have been the primary treatment against this infliction. However, these antivenoms have several inherent limitations, including the risk of causing...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases 2023, Vol.29, p.e20230057
Main Authors: Thumtecho, Suthimon, Burlet, Nick J, Ljungars, Anne, Laustsen, Andreas H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antivenom
Antivenom development
Next-generation antivenom
Recombinant antivenom
Review
Small molecule toxin inhibitors
Snakebite envenoming
TOXICOLOGY
Toxin-neutralization
TROPICAL MEDICINE
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Snakebite envenoming is a significant global health challenge, and for over a century, traditional plasma-derived antivenoms from hyperimmunized animals have been the primary treatment against this infliction. However, these antivenoms have several inherent limitations, including the risk of causing adverse reactions when administered to patients, batch-to-batch variation, and high production costs. To address these issues and improve treatment outcomes, the development of new types of antivenoms is crucial. During this development, key aspects such as improved clinical efficacy, enhanced safety profiles, and greater affordability should be in focus. To achieve these goals, modern biotechnological methods can be applied to the discovery and development of therapeutic agents that can neutralize medically important toxins from multiple snake species. This review highlights some of these agents, including monoclonal antibodies, nanobodies, and selected small molecules, that can achieve broad toxin neutralization, have favorable safety profiles, and can be produced on a large scale with standardized manufacturing processes. Considering the inherent strengths and limitations related to the pharmacokinetics of these different agents, a combination of them might be beneficial in the development of new types of antivenom products with improved therapeutic properties. While the implementation of new therapies requires time, it is foreseeable that the application of biotechnological advancements represents a promising trajectory toward the development of improved therapies for snakebite envenoming. As research and development continue to advance, these new products could emerge as the mainstay treatment in the future.
ISSN:1678-9199
1678-9199
DOI:10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2023-0057