Are mAbs different?

Apart from the nifty science behind their development, are monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) different than other new technologies? As highlighted by Cohen and Wilson in their interesting new paper, mAbs are distinctive from most traditional pharmaceuticals in some ways: their relatively high prices; their high costs of development; their mode of administration; the fact that, unlike many other drugs, they offer disease modification not simply symptomatic relief; the frequency of supplemental indications and off-label use – much of it recognized in drug compendia and reimbursable; and the lack of a clear pathway for their generic substitution.