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Alefacept: a review of the literature and practical guidelines for management
Author(s) -
Hodak Emmilia,
David Michael
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
dermatologic therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1529-8019
pISSN - 1396-0296
DOI - 10.1111/j.1396-0296.2004.04041.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psoriasis , tolerability , safety profile , clinical trial , plaque psoriasis , clinical efficacy , pharmacodynamics , dermatology , clinical practice , intensive care medicine , pharmacology , bioinformatics , adverse effect , surgery , physical therapy , pharmacokinetics , biology
Alefacept is the first biologic agent approved for the treatment of chronic, moderate to severe plaque‐type psoriasis. It is a fully human fusion protein, which binds to CD2, blocks costimulatory signaling, and selectively induces apoptosis of activated memory T cells involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Alefacept has a slow onset of action, peaking approximately 18 weeks after the first injection of a 12‐week course. However, it has several important advantages over the existing conventional immunosuppressive therapies for psoriasis: it is associated with long remissions without the need for maintenance therapy; its efficacy improves with subsequent courses; and it has a high safety profile. This review summarizes the mechanism of action of alefacept and the results of the clinical trials, with special emphasis on efficacy, pharmacodynamic effects on circulating lymphocytes, and safety and tolerability. Current guidelines based on the best available data to date are also presented.