NATIONWIDE - The National Institutes of Health announced on Tuesday the start of Phase 3 Clinical Trials of monoclonal antibodies with the help of bio-tech firm Eli Lilly.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, much has been reported on the possible use of antibody treatments obtained from the plasma donations of recovered patients.

But just what are Monoclonal Antibodies?

On Tuesday Senator Marco Rubio tweeted "This is why I keep saying #DontCancelOctober."

It's in reference to the NIH announcement about monoclonal antibodies.

“Antibodies are infection-fighting proteins made by the immune system that can bind to the surface of viruses and prevent them from infecting cells,” explained an NIH press release.  “Synthetic versions of antibodies can be reproduced in a laboratory. These manufactured antibodies are known as monoclonal antibodies.”

Basically, monoclonal antibodies are engineered in a lab and used as infection-fighting treatment against viruses.

Monoclonal antibodies are at the forefront of medicine.

But the science is not something invented overnight.

They were first generated in 1975, according to the NIH.

The first treatment was approved by the FDA in 1986.

Today, about 30 monoclonal antibody treatments are currently approved by the FDA for treating anything from cancer to infectious diseases.

Also important from Tuesday's announcement is Eli Lilly the pharmaceutical company spearheading the study with NIH is also looking at how these antibodies work on Covid-19 patients at long term care facilities.

They'll be rolling their mobile research units to these places.

Out of the current 101 locations nationwide slated for the study, there are more than 20 in Florida.

Eli Lilly told Spectrum News in an email “new facilities will be added throughout the study…if a site is interested in joining, the first step is to call the number or send an email to our team and they will start the process of reviewing the possibilities.”