Inebilizumab, sold under the brand name Uplizna, is a medication for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in adults and IgG4-RD. Inebilizumab is a humanized mAb that binds to and depletes CD19+ B cells including plasmablasts and plasma cells. The most common adverse reactions include urinary tract infection, headache, joint pain (arthralgia), nausea and back pain. Inebilizumab was approved for medical use in the United States in June 2020, in the European Union in April 2022, and in Canada in December 2023. The U.S.

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) considers it to be a

first-in-class medication A first-in-class medication is a prototype drug that uses a "new and unique mechanism of action" to treat a particular medical condition. While the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research tracks first-in-class medic ...

Medical uses

Inebilizumab is

indicated In medicine, an indication is a valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery. There can be multiple indications to use a procedure or medication. An indication can commonly be confused with the term diagnosis. A diagnosis ...

for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in adults with a particular antibody (patients who are anti-aquaporin-4 or AQP4 antibody positive). Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is a rare autoimmune disorder in which immune system cells and autoantibodies attack and damage the optic nerves and spinal cord. Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder can be associated with antibodies that bind to a protein called aquaporin-4 (AQP4). Binding of the anti-AQP4 antibody appears to activate other components of the immune system, causing inflammation and damage to the central nervous system. Clinically, the disease is manifested with attacks/relapses that result in neurological impairment such as blindness, paraplegia, sensory loss, bladder dysfunction, and peripheral pain. The disability from each attack is cumulative, making neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder a chronically debilitating and potentially life-threatening disease. In April, 2025 the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

approved the Uplizna as the first treatment for adults living with

immunoglobulin An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses, includin ...

G4-related disease ( IgG4-RD), a chronic inflammatory condition that can affect multiple organs.

Side effects

The label for inebilizumab includes a warning for infusion reactions, potential depletion of certain proteins (

hypogammaglobulinemia Hypogammaglobulinemia is an immune system disorder in which not enough gamma globulins are produced in the blood (thus '' hypo-'' + ''gamma'' + '' globulin'' + '' -emia''). This results in a lower antibody count, which impairs the immune system, ...

), and potential increased risk of infection — including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, and potential reactivation of hepatitis B and tuberculosis. The most common adverse reactions in the neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder clinical trial were urinary tract infection, headache, joint pain (arthralgia), nausea and back pain. Women who are pregnant should not take inebilizumab because it may cause harm to a developing fetus or newborn baby. The FDA advises health care professionals to inform females of reproductive age to use effective contraception during treatment with inebilizumab and for six months after the last dose. Vaccination with live-attenuated or live vaccines is not recommended during treatment and should be administered at least four weeks prior to initiation of inebilizumab.

History

Inebilizumab was created from the research led by

Thomas Tedder Thomas Fletcher Tedder (May 14, 1956 – March 18, 2024) was an American immunologist. He is best known for his work in the fields of B lymphocyte biology and regulation. He was the Alter E. Geller Professor for Research in Immunology at Duke Univ ...

at Cellective Therapeutics, and development was continued by Viela Bio and

MedImmune MedImmune, LLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca before February 14, 2019, when it was announced that the MedImmune name and branding would be discontinued in favor of AstraZeneca. MedImmune was founded in 1988 as Molecular Vaccines, ...

. Inebilizumab was approved for medical use in the United States in June 2020. The effectiveness of inebilizumab for the treatment of NMOSD was demonstrated in a clinical study (NCT02200770) of 230 adult participants that evaluated the efficacy and safety of intravenous inebilizumab. In the trial, 213 of the 230 participants had antibodies against AQP4 (anti-AQP4 antibody positive). During the 197-day study, the risk of an NMOSD relapse in the 161 anti-AQP4 antibody positive participants who were treated with inebilizumab was reduced by 77% when compared to the placebo treatment group. There was no evidence of a benefit in participants who were anti-AQP4 antibody negative. The primary efficacy endpoint was the time to the onset of the first adjudicated relapse on or before study day 197 evaluated by a blinded, independent, adjudication committee, who determined whether the attack met protocol-defined criteria. The trial was conducted at 82 sites in 24 countries (including the United States) in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The U.S.

(FDA) granted the application for inebilizumab

orphan drug An orphan drug is a medication, pharmaceutical agent that is developed to treat certain rare medical conditions. An orphan drug would not be profitable to produce without government assistance, due to the small population of patients affected by th ...

designation and granted approval of Uplizna to Viela Bio.

Society and culture

Legal status

In November 2021, the

Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), formerly known as the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP), is the European Medicines Agency's committee responsible for elaborating the agency's opinions on all issues regar ...

(CHMP) of the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ...

(EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Uplizna, intended for the treatment of adults with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) who are anti-aquaporin 4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG) seropositive. The applicant for this medicinal product is Viela Bio. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. Inebilizumab was approved for medical use in the European Union in April 2022.

Names

Inebilizumab is the international nonproprietary name (INN) and the

United States Adopted Name A United States Adopted Name (USAN) is a unique nonproprietary name assigned to a medication marketed in the United States. Each name is assigned by the USAN Council, which is co-sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), the United St ...

(USAN).

References

External links

* {{Authority control Antineoplastic drugs Monoclonal antibodies Orphan drugs Drugs developed by AstraZeneca Drugs developed by Amgen