Immunosuppressive drugs, also known as immunosuppressive agents, immunosuppressants and antirejection medications, are drugs that inhibit or prevent the activity of the immune system.
A TNF inhibitor is a pharmaceutical drug that suppresses the physiologic response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which is part of the inflammatory response. TNF is involved in autoimmune and immune-mediated disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa and refractory asthma, so TNF inhibitors may be used in their treatment. The important side effects of TNF inhibitors include lymphomas, infections, congestive heart failure, demyelinating disease, a lupus-like syndrome, induction of auto-antibodies, injection site reactions, and systemic side effects.
Management of Crohn's disease involves first treating the acute symptoms of the disease, then maintaining remission. Since Crohn's disease is an immune system condition, it cannot be cured by medication or surgery. Treatment initially involves the use of medications to eliminate infections and reduce inflammation. Surgery may be required for complications such as obstructions, fistulae, abscesses, or if the disease does not respond to drugs within a reasonable time. However, surgery cannot cure Crohn's disease. It involves removing the diseased part of the intestine and rejoining the healthy ends, but the disease tends to recur after surgery.
Certolizumab pegol, sold under the brand name Cimzia, is a biopharmaceutical medication for the treatment of Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. It is a fragment of a monoclonal antibody specific to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and is manufactured by UCB.
Biological therapy, the use of medications called biopharmaceuticals or biologics that are tailored to specifically target an immune or genetic mediator of disease, plays a major role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Even for diseases of unknown cause, molecules that are involved in the disease process have been identified, and can be targeted for biological therapy. Many of these molecules, which are mainly cytokines, are directly involved in the immune system. Biological therapy has found a niche in the management of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and diseases of unknown cause that result in symptoms due to immune related mechanisms.
Fontolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody and an immunosuppressive drug for the treatment of auto-immune diseases like Crohn's disease. A phase II clinical trial investigating the use for rheumatoid arthritis was terminated because the first phase did not meet the endpoint.
Lintuzumab (SGN-33) is a humanized monoclonal antibody used in the treatment of cancer. The drug had been developed by Seattle Genetics as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a condition which results in the deaths of 9,000 people a year in the United States. Lintuzumab targets the CD33 protein, which is expressed in AML and other myeloproliferative diseases, but does not appear in abundance on normal cells.
Priliximab is a human-mouse chimeric anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody. It has been tested on patients with Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis but has not yet received U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensing. The patent belongs to the biotechnology company Centocor.
Otelixizumab, also known as TRX4, is a monoclonal antibody, which is being developed for the treatment of type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. The antibody is being developed by Tolerx, Inc. in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline and is being manufactured by Abbott Laboratories.
Vedolizumab, sold under the brand name Entyvio, is a monoclonal antibody medication developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It binds to integrin α4β7, blocking the α4β7 integrin results in gut-selective anti-inflammatory activity.
Tolerx, Inc. was a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was focused on discovering and developing new therapies designed to treat patients by reprogramming the immune system, allowing for long-term remission of immune-related diseases after a short course of therapy. Targeted diseases include type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cancer, chronic and viral diseases. In 2008, Tolerx was named one of Fierce Biotech’s Fierce 15. In October 2011, Tolerx was shut down due to an unsuccessful Phase III trial in patients recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Briakinumab (ABT-874) is a human monoclonal antibody being developed by Abbott Laboratories for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis. As of 2011 drug development for psoriasis has been discontinued in the U.S. and Europe.
Ifetroban is a potent and selective thromboxane receptor antagonist. It has been studied in animal models for the treatment of cancer metastasis, myocardial ischemia, hypertension, stroke, thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and for its effects on platelets. Clinical trials are evaluating the therapeutic safety and efficacy of oral ifetroban capsules for the treatment of cancer metastasis, cardiovascular disease, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, systemic sclerosis, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Olokizumab (OKZ) sold under the name Artlegia, is an immunosuppressive drug, used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 (IL-6). IL-6 is a cytokine that plays an important role in immune response and is implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases. Olokizumab is the first interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitor approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis which blocks directly cytokine instead of its receptor. Olokizumab specifically binds to IL-6 at Site 3, blocking IL-6 ability to form hexameric complex. Olokizumab was developed by R-Pharm group, and was launched in 2020.
Dupilumab, sold under the brand name Dupixent, is a monoclonal antibody blocking interleukin 4 and interleukin 13, used for allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis (eczema), asthma and nasal polyps which result in chronic sinusitis. It is also used for the treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis and prurigo nodularis.
Ozanezumab is a monoclonal antibody designed for the treatment of ALS and multiple sclerosis.
Tildrakizumab, sold under the brand names Ilumya and Ilumetri, is a monoclonal antibody designed for the treatment of immunologically mediated inflammatory disorders. It is approved for the treatment of adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in the United States and the European Union.
Howard L. Weiner is an American neurologist, neuroscientist and immunologist who is also a writer and filmmaker. He performs clinical and basic research focused on multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurologic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). His work also focuses on autoimmune diseases such as diabetes. Weiner is the Robert L. Kroc Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, director of the Brigham MS Center at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases established in 2014, at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Vobarilizumab is a humanized bispecific nanobody designed for the treatment of inflammatory autoimmune diseases.
There are several ways for pharmaceuticals for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) to reach the market.
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