4 ms·
The title is misleading, bordering on being a lie. There is Omalizumab which works wonders for allergic asthma. As the -mab indicates, both are the same class o
by m-schuetz 2y ago
The title is misleading, bordering on being a lie. There is Omalizumab which works wonders for allergic asthma. As the -mab indicates, both are the same class of meds (antibodies that disable specific parts of your immune system). While this new one apparently targets eosinophils, Omalizumab targets IgE antibodies, thereby suppressing the part of the immune system that is responsible for allergies and allergic asthma.
The issue with this class of meds is that they are unfortunately prohibitly expensive. 400€ for a single shot, and you may need up to to 6 per month, for the rest of your life. The new one likely won't be cheaper, all the -mab are that expensive. In large part because they are also very difficult to produce (you need to cultivate cells that produce these antibodies) so it's difficult for competition to enter the field.
- dekhn 2y agoI think the difference is between persistent asthma, and asthma attacks- for example, I have two different asthma meds, one of which is intended for acute asthma (when you're having an attack) and another which is intended to chronic asthma (the ongoing, persistent symptoms).
- m-schuetz 2y agoOn mobile so I can't dig into it, but from what german wikipedia says it's applied the same way as Omalizumab - as a subcutane depot, which in case of Omalizumab gets slowly absorbed over the course of weeks.
- jjtheblunt 2y ago> As the -mab indicates, both are the same class of meds (antibodies that disable specific parts of your immune system). Might be more clear to say -mab indicates _monoclonal_ antibodies, _engineered_ for specific purposes, in this case such as interfering with an over-amplified immune response.
- m-schuetz 2y agoI knew they were called monoclonal antibodies but I didn't realize mab is the short for that until your post, haha.
- hinkley 2y agoBased on my spotty but self-interested knowledge of medical history, we make new immune related drugs for mostly three reasons: one, microbes have adapted and we need to alter the chemical to still be effective (see also quinine and pyrethrins), two, to simplify production (yew trees vs lab made Taxol), or more cynically, to get a new patent on a drug and keep making money after you’ve run the initial patent and the time released variant clocks out (I absolutely hate that that’s a thing). So while it’s not surprising that a new flavor in a class of drugs is also expensive, it’s not a foregone conclusion. A new catalyst or a less tricky bond to force could make a drug that works as well or almost but is much cheaper to make.