Heptavalent Botulism Antitoxin

Heptavalent botulism antitoxin, marketed as BAT, is an antitoxin manufactured from horse plasma that neutralizes all seven known botulinum toxin serotypes, A through G. It is used to treat sporadic, life threatening cases of botulism in adults and cases of infant botulism caused by toxin types other than A and B, and it is also stockpiled against the possibility of botulinum toxin being used as a bioterrorism agent. The United States Centers for Disease Control first made it available on an investigational basis in 2010 to replace two earlier antitoxin products, and the Food and Drug Administration licensed it for commercial marketing in 2013. Because it can only neutralize toxin still circulating in the blood rather than toxin already bound to nerve terminals, early administration is considered critical to its effectiveness.