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Prophylactic and therapeutic neutralizing monoclonal antibody treatment prevents lethal yellow fever infection

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  • July 15, 2025
  • Benjamin J. Burwitz, et al. Oregon Health and Science University
Topic/Product:
Immunology, Inflammation, Inflammation Panel 250
Disease Area:
Yellow Fever Virus
Sample Type:
Plasma-NHP

Abstract

Yellow Fever virus (YFV) infection is fatal in 5–10% of the 200,000 yearly cases. There is currently no available antiviral treatment. We showed previously that administration of 50 mg/kg of a YFV-specific neutralizing monoclonal antibody (nmAb) at 2 days post-infection (dpi), prior to the onset of severe disease, protected YFV-infected rhesus macaques from death. To further explore the clinical applicability of our nmAb MBL-YFV-01, we treated rhesus macaques with a lower dose (10 mg/kg) of this nmAb prophylactically or therapeutically at 3.5 dpi. We show that a single prophylactic or therapeutic intravenous dose of our nmAb protects rhesus macaques from death following challenge. A comprehensive analysis of 167 inflammatory cytokine and chemokines revealed that protection was associated with significantly reduced expression of 125 of these markers, including type I interferons, IL6, and CCL2. This study further expands the potential clinical use of our YFV-specific nmAb, which could be used during an outbreak for immediate prophylactic immunity or for patients with measurable serum viremia.

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Authors & Affiliations

Lauren N. Rust1, Michael J. Ricciardi2, 3,, Savannah S. Lutz1, Sofiya Yusova1, Johan J.
Louw3, Aaron Yrizarry-Medina3, Sreya Biswas1, Miranda Fischer4, Aaron Barber-Axthelm1, Gavin
Zilverberg1, Lauren Bailey1, Tonya Swanson1, Rachael Tonelli1, G.W. McElfresh1, Brandon C.
Rosen3, Thomas B. Voigt3, Christakis Panayiotou3, Jack T. Mauter3, Noor Ghosh3
, Jenna Meanor3, Giovana Godoy3, Michael Axthelm1, 4, Jeremy Smedley1, 4, Mark K. Slifka1, Esper G.Kallas5,6, Gabriela Webb1, Robert Zweig1, Caralyn S. Labriola4, Benjamin N. Bimber1, Jonah B. Sacha1, 4, *, David I. Watkins2, 3, *, and Benjamin J.Burwitz1, 4, *

  1. Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, OR USA
  2. Mabloc LLC, 725 21st St. NW, Suite 301, Washington DC USA
  3. George Washington University, 2121 I St. NW, Washington DC, USA
  4. Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, OR USA
  5. Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo,São Paulo, Brazil
  6. Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil
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Steve Williams, MD, PhD

CSO

Dr. Willams serves as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer. He was previously Chief Medical Officer at Standard Biotools and at SomaLogic where he pioneered the discipline for discovery and validation of predictive, diagnostic and prognostic models using machine-learning applied to large-plex proteomics. 20 such tests were used for drug characterization, safety and efficacy when incorporated in clinical drug trials at Pharma/Biotech and 17 different multivariate tests were validated and translated into regulated healthcare uses. Prior to SomaLogic, Dr. Williams was at Pfizer in the UK and the USA as a clinical triallist in Translational Medicine, and subsequently as VP, Global Clinical Technology. He sat on the National Advisory Council for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the Executive Committee for the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, and worked with FDA and PhRMA on developing evidentiary standards for biomarker qualification. Dr. William’s medical training was in London, at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, followed by a PhD in medicine/physiology at the same institution and training in Radiology at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Steve is co-inventor on 26 proteomics patents and author/coauthor on multiple foundational proteomics manuscripts.

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Justin McAnear

CFO

Mr. McAnear serves as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He brings over 25 years of operational and financial leadership experience across various sectors and was instrumental in taking 10x Genomics public in 2019, serving as its CFO for over five years. Mr. McAnear served for over 3 years as Tesla’s VP of Worldwide Finance and Operations, supporting landmark initiatives such as the Model X and Model 3 launches and Solar City acquisition.  He also held various roles at Apple and J&J earlier in his career and served as a naval officer and aviator for over 9 years.