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Alemtuzumab

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Alemtuzumab

Alemtuzumab, sold under the brand names Campath and Lemtrada among others, is a medication used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple sclerosis. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia, it has been used as both a first line and second line treatment. It is given by injection into a vein.

It is a monoclonal antibody that binds to CD52, a protein present on the surface of mature lymphocytes, but not on the stem cells from which these lymphocytes are derived. After treatment with alemtuzumab, these CD52-bearing lymphocytes are targeted for destruction.

Alemtuzumab was approved for medical use in the United States in 2001. (Mab)Campath was withdrawn from the markets in the US and the EU in 2012, to prepare for a higher-priced relaunch of Lemtrada aimed at multiple sclerosis.

Alemtuzumab is used for the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia in people who have been treated with alkylating agents and who have failed fludarabine therapy. It is an unconjugated antibody, thought to work via the activation of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity.[unreliable medical source?]

It is used for the relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis. A 2017 Cochrane meta-analysis of studies comparing alemtuzumab to interferon beta 1a concluded that annual cycles of alemtuzumab probably reduces the proportion of people that experience relapse and may reduce the proportion of people who experience disability worsening and new T2 lesions on MRI, with adverse events found to be similarly high for both treatments. However the low-to-moderate levels of evidence in the included, existing studies were noted and the need for larger high-quality randomised, double-blind, controlled trials comparing mono or combination therapy with alemtuzumab was highlighted.

Alemtuzumab is contraindicated in patients who have active infections, underlying immunodeficiency (e.g., seropositive for HIV), or known type I hypersensitivity or anaphylactic reactions to the substance.

In November 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement warning about rare but serious instances of stroke and blood vessel wall tears in multiple sclerosis patients who have received Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), mostly occurring within one day of initiating treatment and leading in some cases to permanent disability and even death.

In addition to the 13 cases to which the FDA safety announcement refers, a further five cases of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage have been retrospectively identified from four US multiple sclerosis centers in correspondence published online in February 2019.

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