Polyvalency: an emerging trend in the development of clinical antibodies

•Conventional mAbs (bivalent) are clinically successful but still exhibit limitations.•Polyvalent antibodies have emerged as powerful agents for clinical use.•Development of polyvalent antibodies may be the best approach for blocking proinflammatory cytokines. Medicine has benefited greatly from the development of monoclonal antibody (mAb) technology. First-generation mAbs have seen significant success in the treatment of major diseases, such as autoimmune, inflammation, cancer, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases. Developing next-generation antibodies with improved potency, safety, and non-natural characteristics is a booming field of mAb research. In this review, we discuss the significance of polyvalency and polyvalent antibodies, as well as important findings from preclinical studies and clinical trials involving polyvalent antibodies. We then review the role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in inflammatory diseases and the need for polyvalent anti-TNF-α antibodies.