History

The role monoclonal antibodies have come to assume was first postulated by early 20th century immunologist Paul Ehrlich, who proposed the idea of a medical Zauberkugel, a "magic bullet". This would be a compound that could be made to selectively target a disease-causing organism, which would allow a toxin for that organism to be delivered along with it. He and Élie Metchnikoff received the 1908 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for this work.

In the 1970s, the B-cell cancer multiple myeloma was known. It was understood that these cancerous B-cells all produce a single type of antibody (a paraprotein). This was used to study the structure of antibodies, but it was not yet possible to produce identical antibodies specific to a given antigen.:324

Production of monoclonal antibodies involving human–mouse hybrid cells was first described by Jerrold Schwaber in 1973. This work remains widely cited among those using human-derived hybridomas.

In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein succeeded in making fusions of myeloma cell lines with B cells to create hybridomas that could produce antibodies, specific to known antigens and that were immortalized. They and Niels Kaj Jerne shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 for the discovery.

In 1988, Greg Winter and his team pioneered the techniques to humanize monoclonal antibodies, eliminating the reactions that many monoclonal antibodies caused in some patients.

In 2018, James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation, using monoclonal antibodies that prevent inhibitory linkages.