Rovelizumab, also known as LeukArrest and Hu23F2G, is a

humanized monoclonal antibody Humanized antibodies are antibodies from non-human species whose protein sequences have been modified to increase their similarity to antibody variants produced naturally in humans. The process of "humanization" is usually applied to monoclonal ant ...

which was an experimental

immunosuppressive drug Immunosuppressive drugs, also known as immunosuppressive agents, immunosuppressants and antirejection medications, are drugs that inhibit or prevent the activity of the immune system. Classification Immunosuppressive drugs can be classifie ...

. It was developed by

Icos Icos Corporation (trademark ICOS) was an American biotechnology company and the largest biotechnology company in the U.S. state of Washington, before it was sold to Eli Lilly and Company in 2007. It was founded in 1989 by David Blech, Isaac ...

to treat patients with haemorrhagic shock. The drug is a monoclonal antibody that suppresses

white blood cell White blood cells (scientific name leukocytes), also called immune cells or immunocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign entities. White blood cells are genera ...

s which become overly active during shock. During testing, the number of patients given the drug was low because rovelizumab had to be delivered within four hours of the injury and

consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual consent. Consent as understood i ...

was required. The patient was often unconscious and relatives had to be reached to give consent. In June 1998, Icos and many medical centers asked the United States

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

(FDA) to waive consent requirements in situations where the patient was at high risk of dying and relatives could not be reached. While some medical ethicists opposed waiving consent, the FDA approved the proposal in August 1998 for five medical centers. Development of rovelizumab was halted in April 2000 when interim data from phase III clinical trials did not meet Icos' goals, which included reducing the chance of multiple organ failure and reducing the death-rate from shock at 28 days. Rovelizumab was also being tested for treating

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

, and

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

, and was being explored as a treatment for cerebral vasospasm,

head trauma A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inj ...

kidney transplantation Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

, and

restenosis Restenosis is the recurrence of stenosis, a narrowing of a blood vessel, leading to restricted blood flow. Restenosis usually pertains to an artery or other large blood vessel that has become narrowed, received treatment to clear the blockage, and ...

. Multiple companies have tried to develop anti-

CD18 In molecular biology, CD18 (Integrin beta chain-2) is an integrin beta chain protein that is encoded by the '' ITGB2'' gene in humans. Upon binding with one of a number of alpha chains, CD18 is capable of forming multiple heterodimers, which play ...

drugs, but none of them have been successful. Among them are

Genentech Genentech, Inc. is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It operates as an independent subsidiary of holding company Roche. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent cent ...

erlizumab Erlizumab, also known as rhuMAb, is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that was an experimental immunosuppressive drug. Erlizumab was developed by Genentech under a partnership with Roche to treat heart attack, stroke, and traumatic sho ...

, and two drugs developed by Protein Design Labs and

Centocor Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (formerly Janssen Pharmaceuticals) is a Belgian pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Ph ...

. Although trials in humans have not gone well, the research of anti-CD18 drugs in animals has been encouraging. It is thought that the experimental medicines are affecting the lymphocyte adhesion pathway in humans in unintended ways.

References

{{Monoclonals for immune system Monoclonal antibodies