Novel immunotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria

The rise in infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria and the spread of resistance to conventional antibiotics provide significant challenges to the pharmaceutical industry. Monoclonal antibodies have achieved impressive recent clinical successes in a variety of indications, but to date there are no licensed immunotherapeutics that target bacterial infections, despite several promising studies in animal models of infection. Several key questions remain, in particular relating to the target(s), mechanism of action, and mode of delivery of any potential novel immunotherapeutic. This short review discusses recent approaches being taken to develop novel immunotherapeutic molecules for the treatment of Gram-negative bacterial infections.