Expert opinion on biological therapy
-
Sepsis leads to an overwhelming inflammatory response of the host and is usually accompanied by well-known clinical symptoms (fever, tachycardia, leukocytosis, and so on) and the accompanying systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Accordingly, most efforts to develop treatment strategies for sepsis have focused on those designed to counteract overactivation of the inflammatory system. ⋯ Recombinant activated protein C (APC) represents the first treatment that has led to restricted approval for use in sepsis in the USA and worldwide. This article reviews approaches to anti-inflammatory treatment in sepsis and provides an outlook into ongoing clinical trials as well as new treatments that have not yet been evaluated in the clinical setting.
-
Expert Opin Biol Ther · Apr 2003
ReviewTherapy of allergic bronchial asthma with omalizumab - an anti-IgE monoclonal antibody.
The immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody plays a central role in the allergic immune responses, such as those which characterise allergic bronchial asthma. The ability to reduce circulating IgE by using anti-IgE antibodies represents a novel therapeutic approach for IgE-mediated allergic diseases. Omalizumab (rhuMAb-E25/Xolair Genentech, USA/Tanox, Inc., USA/Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland) is a non-anaphylactogen humanised murine monoclonal antibody which binds to circulating IgE. ⋯ It reduces the frequency of asthma exacerbations and the need for inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs), and improves asthma symptoms, lung function and quality of life. The anti-IgE approach to asthma treatment has a number of further potential advantages, such as the treatment of other concomitant atopic diseases (allergic conjunctivitis and rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and food allergy), regardless of the type of allergic sensitisation (seasonal or perennial). On the basis of several studies, omalizumab is likely to provide a new strategy for treating atopic asthma.