Visilizumab Explained

Visilizumab (tentative trade name Nuvion, PDL BioPharma Inc.) is a humanized monoclonal antibody. It is being investigated for use as an immunosuppressive drug in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Visilizumab binds to the CD3 receptor on certain activated T cells without affecting resting T cells. It is currently under clinical studies for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.[1]

PDL BioPharma, Inc. canceled production of visilizumab following its Phase II/III clinical trials, citing its inefficacy and poor safety profile compared to other drugs on the market as the major reasons.[2] Nevertheless, clinical trials continue for various diseases like multiple myeloma and diabetes mellitus type 1[3] .

Visilizumab has also been radiolabelled with technetium-99m for imaging T cells.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PDL BioPharma, Development Pipeline - Nuvion (visilizumab) . 2008-02-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20070915083341/http://www.pdl.com/index.cfm?navId=43 . 2007-09-15.
  2. Web site: PDL Lands in a Hazard . 29 August 2007 . 2009-05-27 .
  3. Kaufman A, Herold KC . Anti-CD3 mAbs for treatment of type 1 diabetes . Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews . 25 . 4 . 302–6 . May 2009 . 19319985 . 10.1002/dmrr.933 . 36595661 . free .
  4. Malviya G, D'Alessandria C, Bonanno E, Vexler V, Massari R, Trotta C, Scopinaro F, Dierckx R, Signore A . 6 . Radiolabeled humanized anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody visilizumab for imaging human T-lymphocytes . Journal of Nuclear Medicine . 50 . 10 . 1683–91 . October 2009 . 19759100 . 10.2967/jnumed.108.059485 . 31980716 . free .