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Drugs Targeting B-Cells in Autoimmune Diseases pp 1–10Cite as

Historic Outline of the Development of Drugs Targeting B Cells

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Part of the book series: Milestones in Drug Therapy ((MDT))

Abstract

In the 1980s and 1990s numerous groups worked on the development of monoclonal antibody (mAb) technology for cell identification and characterization and for therapeutic uses. The initial drive to specifically target B cells was part of the effort to develop more effective and safer therapeutic agents to treat B-cell malignancies. Anti-idiotype antibodies were effective but a different antibody needed to be developed for each patient, contributing to preventing these antibodies from being used in normal clinical practice. Monoclonal antibodies to B-cell lineage-specific antigens were more attractive but choice of antigen was difficult as, for example, shedding or modulation of the antigen could lead to diminished efficacy. Technological advances enabling the production of chimeric human–mouse and humanized or fully human mAb decreased their immunogenicity, increased their half-life, and improved mAb recruitment of host immune effector mechanisms that target cells expressing the specific antigen.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheumatology Department, Centre for Rheumatology Research, University College London, London, UK

    Maria J. Leandro

Authors
  1. Maria J. Leandro
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Correspondence to Maria J. Leandro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital Clinic, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Bosch

  2. Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain

    Manuel Ramos-Casals

  3. King's College, The Rayne Institute, St. Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom

    Munther A Khamashta

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© 2014 Springer Basel

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Leandro, M.J. (2014). Historic Outline of the Development of Drugs Targeting B Cells. In: Bosch, X., Ramos-Casals, M., Khamashta, M. (eds) Drugs Targeting B-Cells in Autoimmune Diseases. Milestones in Drug Therapy. Springer, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0706-7_1

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