A non-glycosylated, plant-produced human monoclonal antibody against anthrax protective antigen protects mice and non-human primates from B. anthracis spore challenge.

The health and economic burden of infectious diseases in general and bioterrorism in particular necessitate the development of medical countermeasures. One proven approach to reduce the disease burden and spread of pathogen is treatment with monoclonal antibodies (mAb). mAbs can prevent or reduce severity of the disease by variety of mechanisms, including neutralizing pathogen growth, limiting its spread from infected to adjacent cells, or by inhibiting biological activity of toxins, such as anthrax lethal toxin.