Sustained delivery of a broadly neutralizing antibody in nonhuman primates confers long-term protection against simian/human immunodeficiency virus infection

Pathogen-specific neutralizing antibodies protect against many viral infections and can potentially prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission in humans. However, neutralizing antibodies have so far only been shown to protect nonhuman primates (NHP) against lentiviral infection when given shortly before challenge. Thus, the clinical utility and feasibility of passive antibody transfer to confer long-term protection against HIV-1 are still debated. Here, we investigate the potential of a broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibody to provide long-term protection in a NHP model of HIV-1 infection. A human antibody was simianized to avoid immune rejection and used to sustain therapeutic levels for ~5 months. Two months after the final antibody administration, animals were completely protected against viral challenge. These findings demonstrate the feasibility and potential of long-term passive antibody for protection against HIV-1 in humans and provide a model to test antibody therapies for other diseases in NHP.