Anti-human metapneumovirus antibodies

MedImmune expanded its platform in respiratory infectious disease by licensing the worldwide rights to technology associated with human metapneumovirus (hMPV), a recently discovered virus believed to be a common cause of serious lower respiratory tract infections in young children. The company is now working to develop antibody therapies for infants at risk of hMPV infection, as well a vaccine to prevent hMPV/PIV-3 infection.

Early epidemiology studies indicate that outbreaks of hMPV are similar to that of other respiratory infections, occurring in annual epidemics that peak during the fall and winter months. It is believed that by the age of five, nearly all children will have been infected with hMPV. The clinical symptoms of hMPV are largely similar to RSV, the most common cause of serious respiratory infections in young children, ranging from mild respiratory problems to severe cough, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia, with the very youngest children often requiring hospitalization and mechanical ventilation.