Protective pan-ebolavirus combination therapy by two multifunctional human antibodies
Ebolaviruses cause a severe and often fatal illness with the potential for global spread. Monoclonal antibody-based treatments that have become available recently have a narrow therapeutic spectrum and are ineffective against ebolaviruses other than Ebola virus (EBOV), including medically important Bundibugyo (BDBV) and Sudan (SUDV) viruses. Here we report the development of a therapeutic cocktail comprising two broadly neutralizing human antibodies rEBOV-515 and rEBOV-442 that recognize non-overlapping sites on the ebolavirus glycoprotein (GP). Antibodies in the cocktail exhibited synergistic neutralizing activity and resisted viral escape, and they were optimized for their Fc-mediated effector function activities. The cocktail protected non-human primates from ebolavirus disease caused by EBOV, BDBV, or SUDV with high therapeutic effectiveness. High-resolution structures of the cocktail antibodies in complex with GP revealed the molecular determinants for neutralization breadth and potency. This study provides advanced preclinical data to support clinical development of this cocktail for pan-ebolavirus therapy.