Nomenclature of Monoclonal Antibodies - History

History

Emil von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburō discovered in 1890 that diphtheria and tetanus toxins were neutralized in the bloodstream of animals by substances they called antitoxins, which were specific for the respective toxin. Behring received the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their find in 1901. A year after the discovery, Paul Ehrlich used the term antibodies (German Antikörper) for these antitoxins.

The principle of monoclonal antibody production, called hybridoma technology, was published in 1975 by Georges Köhler and César Milstein, who were awarded the 1984 Medicine Nobel Prize for their discovery together with Niels Kaj Jerne. Muromonab-CD3 was the first monoclonal antibody to be approved for clinical use in humans, in 1986.

The World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the system of International Nonproprietary Names in 1950, with the first INN list being published three years later. The stem -mab for monoclonal antibodies was proposed around 1990, and the current system with target and source substems was developed between 1991 and 1993. Due to the collaboration between the WHO and the United States Adopted Names Council, antibody USANs have the same structure and are largely identical to INNs. Until 2009, more than 170 monoclonal antibodies received names following this nomenclature.

In October 2008, the WHO convoked a working group to revise the nomenclature of monoclonal antibodies, to meet challenges discussed in April the same year. This led to the adoption of the new target substems in November 2009. In spring 2010, the first new antibody names were adopted.