Making alemtuzumab or campath infusions safer

Epub ahead of printPerumal et al. Subcutaneous administration of alemtuzumab in patients with highly active multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2012 Jan 17. 

As you know alemtuzumab or campath-1h has remarkable efficacy in relapsing MS. In clinical trials and off-label use in MS, alemtuzumab has been administered intravenously (IV). Alemtuzumab is approved for chronic lymphoid leukemia  and some oncology guidelines recommend alemtuzumab is given subcutaneously (SC). There is no report of alemtuzumab SC in MS. 



These investigators report two patients with highly active relapsing MS who were treated with SC alemtuzumab, had significant improvement and tolerated SC alemtuzumab well without the typical infusion-associated adverse events. 

SC alemtuzumab in MS warrants further studies as this may enhance patient convenience and minimize infusion-associated adverse events.


Other posts of interest on this blog in relation to alemtuzumab:

14 Nov 2011
In the CARE MS II randomized trial involving 840 patients, a 49% reduction in relapse rate was observed in patients treated with alemtuzumab 12 mg compared to interferon beta-1a over two years of study (p<0.0001).
12 Nov 2011
Background: Alemtuzumab is a lymphocyte depleting monoclonal antibody that has marked efficacy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). One unresolved issue is the duration and significance of the lymphopenia ...
11 Sep 2011
"Based on its superior efficacy Alemtuzumab should command a premium price. However, the cost will affect its cost-effectiveness and its license in the UK under NICE. Ideally we would like to use Alemtuzumab in early MS; ...
03 Oct 2011
In a phase 2 clinical trial of annual alemtuzumab for the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS, 6/216 (2.8%) patients developed immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). "Thrombocytes or platelets are the cells in the blood responsible ...

30 Jul 2011
"What is alemtuzumab? You may know the drug as Campath-1h. This is a powerful immuno-modulator that is given as a course of intravenous infusions. It depletes the immune system and allows it to recover. I refer to it as an ...
18 Jul 2011
"This was not a negative study; Alemtuzumab is still a very promising disease-modifying therapy! The patients in this trial were less active than previously therefore the trial lacked power to detect a difference in relation to ...
12 Jul 2011
More on the Alemtuzumab trial. The previous post is simply the headline results; we need to wait for the full results that will be presented at the ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS meeting from the 19 – 22 October 2011, in Amsterdam, The ...
09 Sep 2011
This is more of the same (good) news, with regard to Alemtuzumab. This un-controlled and unblinded study indicates that Alemtuzumab (an antibody that kills white blood cells) quells disease activity in MSers who have ...

11 Jul 2011
A press release on the headline results of the Alemtuzumab vs. Interferon-beta-1a trial: "Sanofi said Lemtrada worked better than an older drug, Rebif, in preventing relapses, as patients treated with Lemtrada were 55 percent ...
17 Jan 2011
Genzyme details market potential of Alemtuzumab for MS. Wow! Let's hope it is not too expensive for the NHS. Click here to read the press release! Posted by Gavin Giovannoni at 22:55 · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to ...
16 Feb 2011
Genzyme is the company that is developing Alemtuzumab (formerly known as Campath-1h) for MS. Alemtuzumab is clearly the most effective of the emerging drugs in clinical development. Sanofi on the other hand are ...
17 Jan 2012
Alemtuzumab removes white cells from the blood in RRMS and works, Alemtuzumab removes the white cells from the blood in SPMS and does not work. So is it all about blood flow?. Are there any current drugs that work in ...
12 Jul 2011
Sanofi-Aventis's share price dropped by nearly 2% yesterday after the headline results of the Alemtuzumab trial were made public. "Do the markets know more than we do about the results of clinical trials? Depressing if they ...
18 Apr 2010
Five other cases were subsequently diagnosed with ITP with onset between 1.5 and 16 months after alemtuzumab. In one case ITP resolved without treatment. In 2 cases, remission was achieved with corticosteroid treatment ...
19 Jun 2011
Re Alemtuzumab & "... my guess is in a few years time we will offer this to everyone with new MS": Could this also be a natural next step for those completing 2 years of Tysabri? With current knowledge what would be better ...
23 Sep 2011
These (Alemtuzumab, Rituzimab, Cladribine, Bone marrow transplantation, beta interferon) do not appear to stop the non-relapsing aspects of progressive MS. Therefore we need a new approach to treat progressive MS, ...