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The first phase of a clinical trial of an antibody therapy that increases a person's chance of surviving the potentially fatal Hendra virus will begin early next year.

The world-first trial will extensively test the safety of the therapy, which is the only known way of treating a person exposed to Hendra.

The human monoclonal antibody will be tested on between 20 and 40 healthy adults.

Queensland's chief health officer Jeanette Young says no side effects are expected.

"We think it's a very, very safe drug but we haven't done the work," she said in Brisbane.

Dr Young says the treatment must be administered within days of exposure for it to be effective.

The antibody has been used to treat a handful of people, but has never been tested extensively on humans.

If the trial is successful, the antibody could be routinely given to those exposed to the virus.

US Hendra expert professor Christopher Broder developed the antibody, which effectively blocks virus particles from entering human cells, hopefully allowing the immune system to fight off the virus.

"We are really excited to see that it might actually be an antibody that is going to save someone's life in the future, which is pretty rare when you consider the severity of someone getting the Hendra virus," he said via video link on Thursday.

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Hendra therapy set for human trial