Erlizumab
Monoclonal antibody
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erlizumab, also known as rhuMAb, is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that was an experimental immunosuppressive drug. Erlizumab was developed by Genentech under a partnership with Roche to treat heart attack, stroke, and traumatic shock.[1]
| Monoclonal antibody | |
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| Type | F(ab')2 fragment |
| Source | Humanized (from mouse) |
| Target | CD18 |
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Mechanism of action
Clinical trials
Genentech started clinical trials on the drug in October 1996.[5] During clinical trials, six patients suddenly started coughing up blood, and four of them later died.[2] In June 2000, preliminary phase II clinical trial results showed that erlizumab did not meet Genentech's goals.[1] Genentech's primary goal was for the drug to increase blood flow to the heart within 90 minutes of administering the medicine.[4]
Other anti-CD18 drugs
Multiple companies have tried to develop anti-CD18 drugs, but none of them have been successful.[4] Among them are Icos's rovelizumab (LeukArrest), and two drugs developed by Protein Design Labs and Centocor.[4] Although trials in humans have not gone well, the research of CD18 drugs in animals has been encouraging.[4] It is thought that the experimental medicines are affecting the lymphocyte adhesion pathway in humans in unintended ways.[4] One hypothesis is that the endothelial cell barrier function fails when blood supply is low for a prolonged time in humans.[6] If this is true, the drug is not able to stop lymphocyte movement into inflamed tissue.[6]