Antibody humanization: a case of the ‘Emperor’s new clothes’?

The antiglobulin response is perceived as a major problem in the clinical development of therapeutic antibodies. Successive technical developments such as chimeric, humanized and, now, fully human antibodies claim to offer improved solutions to this problem. Although there is clear evidence that chimeric antibodies are less immunogenic than murine monoclonal antibodies, little evidence exists to support claims for further improvements as a result of more elaborate humanization protocols.