>>20650394
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 May 14.
Published in final edited form as:
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2011 Dec; 10(8): 892–898.
doi: 10.2174/187152711799219370
PMCID: PMC3653579
NIHMSID: NIHMS410023
PMID: 22229314
Monoclonal Antibodies as Pharmacokinetic Antagonists for the Treatment of (+)-Methamphetamine Addiction
S. Michael Owens,*,1 William T. Atchley,1 Michael D. Hambuchen,1 Eric C. Peterson,1 and W. Brooks Gentry1,2
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Abstract
Developing specific medications to treat (+)-methamphetamine (METH) addiction is a difficult challenge because METH has multiple sites of action that are intertwined with normal neurological function. As a result, no small molecule medication for the treatment of METH addiction has made it through the FDA clinical trials process. With the invention of a new generation of protein-based therapies, it is now possible to consider treating drug addiction by an entirely different approach. This new approach is based on the discovery of very high affinity anti-METH monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which are non-addictive and antagonize METH effects from the blood stream without entering the brain. Due to a very long biological half-life, anti-METH mAbs would only need to be administered once every 2-4 weeks, aiding in patient compliance. As a relapse prevention medication, anti-METH mAbs could reduce or prevent the rewarding effects of a relapse to METH use and thereby improve a patient's probability of remaining in therapy and recovering from their addiction. In this review, we discuss the discovery process of anti-METH mAbs, with a focus on the preclinical development leading to high affinity anti-METH mAb antagonists.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3653579/