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Abstract
Tocilizumab (TCZ) is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the IL-6 receptor that is indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis and Castleman's disease. TCZ was developed as an intravenous (IV) formulation and approved for RA treatment in Japan (2008), the EU (2009) and the USA (2010). Recently, a subcutaneous (SC) formulation of TCZ was developed and approved for RA treatment. Efficacy and safety of TCZ-SC were reported through three randomized trials: MUSASHI, SUMMACTA and BREVACTA. Clinical efficacy and overall safety of TCZ-SC was comparable to that of TCZ-IV. However TCZ-SC, which is provided in a fixed dose, the efficacy was affected by patient weight. The frequencies of injection site reactions and anti-TCZ antibodies were increased with TCZ-SC compared with TCZ-IV, although differences were minimal and at a negligible level for daily clinical practice. This review highlights the potential of TCZ-SC in RA treatment.
Financial & competing interest disclosure
A Ogata has received a consulting fee as a medical adviser, grants and payment for lectures including services on speaker's bureaus from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. T Tanaka has received grants and payment for lectures including services on speaker's bureaus from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The Department of Clinical Application of Biologics at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine is an endowment department, supported with an unrestricted grant from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. In addition to the peer-review process, with the authors’ consent, the manufacturer of the product discussed in this article was given the opportunity to review the manuscript for factual accuracy. Changes were made at the discretion of the authors’ and based on scientific or editorial merit only.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.