In vivo mRNA expression of a multi-mechanistic mAb combination protects against Staphylococcus aureus infection.

ABSTRACT

Single monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can be expressed in vivo through gene delivery of their mRNA formulated with lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). However, delivery of a mAb combination could be challenging due to the risk of heavy and light variable chain mispairing. We evaluated the pharmacokinetics of a three mAb combination against Staphylococcus aureus first in single chain variable fragment scFv-Fc and then in immunoglobulin G 1 (IgG1) format in mice. Intravenous delivery of each mRNA/LNP or the trio (1 mg/kg each) induced functional antibody expression after 24 h (10-100 µg/mL) with 64%-78% cognate-chain paired IgG expression after 3 days, and an absence of non-cognate chain pairing for scFv-Fc. We did not observe reduced neutralizing activity for each mAb compared with the level of expression of chain-paired mAbs. Delivery of the trio mRNA protected mice in an S. aureus-induced dermonecrosis model. Intravenous administration of the three mRNA in non-human primates achieved peak serum IgG levels ranging between 2.9 and 13.7 µg/mL with a half-life of 11.8-15.4 days. These results suggest nucleic acid delivery of mAb combinations holds promise and may be a viable option to streamline the development of therapeutic antibodies.