Andes virus, the principal cause of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in South America, kills up to 40 percent of the people it infects, yet no licensed vaccine or specific antiviral therapy exists against it. A review published in the journal Biological Research examines how monoclonal antibodies could fill that gap, arguing that protection against the virus depends not only on the ability of antibodies to neutralize the pathogen directly but also on Fc-mediated effector functions that recruit other arms of the immune system. The authors, led by Jorge T. González, Camila Kossack, José L. Garrido and María I. Barría, summarize current advances in antibody-based therapies targeting the virus and highlight engineering strategies intended to make future interventions more effective.
The virus stands out among hantaviruses for a reason that complicates public health responses: it has a unique capacity for person-to-person transmission among hantaviruses. That trait, combined with its high case fatality rate, underscores the need to develop effective therapeutic and prophylactic strategies against the virus, according to the paper. Andes virus is described as a neglected pathogen, and the absence of licensed countermeasures underscores the need for both therapeutic and prophylactic strategies, according to the paper.
Monoclonal antibodies have emerged as a promising platform for preventing and treating viral diseases. The review attributes that promise to three characteristics: high specificity for their targets, rapid development timelines compared with traditional vaccine or drug discovery, and the potential for optimization through antibody engineering.
Neutralization, the classic mechanism of antibody protection, remains central to the argument.
But the review’s central thesis is that neutralization alone does not capture the full picture.
The review notes that Fc-mediated effector functions have increasingly been recognized as critical contributors to antiviral immunity and therapeutic efficacy, a shift with consequences for how candidate antibodies against Andes virus should be selected and engineered.
The authors also draw on evidence from antibody-based interventions against other viral pathogens, which they say has demonstrated the clinical feasibility of the approach and provides a strong rationale for applying it to Andes virus.
The review highlights emerging strategies to optimize antibody engineering for the development of more effective therapeutic and prophylactic interventions against the virus.
The review frames its conclusions around a pathogen that has received far less attention than its clinical burden would suggest.
Subject of Research: Antibody-based therapeutic and prophylactic strategies against Andes virus
Article Title: Antibody-based therapies against Andes virus: from neutralization to Fc-mediated protection
Article References: González, J. T., Kossack, C., Garrido, J. L., & Barría, M. I. (2026). Antibody-based therapies against Andes virus: from neutralization to Fc-mediated protection. Biological Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40659-026-00724-8
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s40659-026-00724-8
Keywords: Andes virus, hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, monoclonal antibodies, virus neutralization, Fc-mediated effector functions, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, antibody engineering, person-to-person transmission, prophylaxis, neglected pathogen, Antibody-based, therapies