MabThera/ Rituxan

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Here is some additional information on MabThera or Rituxan as it is called in this country. Since it is a biologic the route of administration would be injectable. I don't know if it would be IV as is Remicade or sub-Q as with Enbrel and Humira and it could be a couple of years before it is approved for RA but at least there is something new on the horizon.for the patient who is not responding to conventional DMARD therapy (i.e. Methotrexate, Enbrel, Humira and/or Remicade)..

I cut and pasted the following information from the Roche Pharmaceutical Company's website.

About MabTheraMabThera is a therapeutic antibody that binds to a particular protein - the CD20 antigen - on the surface of normal and malignant B-cells. It then recruits the body's natural defences to attack and kill the marked B-cells. Stem cells (B-cell progenitors) in bone marrow lack the CD20 antigen, allowing healthy B-cells to regenerate after treatment and return to normal levels within several months.

MabThera is indicated as a single-agent treatment for relapsed or refractory indolent NHL, and received European approval in March 2002 for the treatment of aggressive NHL in combination with CHOP chemotherapy. MabThera is known as Rituxan in the United States, Japan and Canada. More than 370,000 patients have been treated with MabThera worldwide to date.

Genentech and Biogen Idec co-market MabThera in the United States, and Roche markets MabThera in the rest of the world, except Japan, where MabThera is co-marketed by Chugai and Zenyaku Kogyo Co. Ltd.