14 Facts About Natalizumab

Natalizumab, sold under the brand name Tysabri among others, is a medication used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease.

Natalizumab has proven effective in treating the symptoms of both diseases, preventing relapse, vision loss, cognitive decline and significantly improving quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis, as well as increasing rates of remission and preventing relapse in multiple sclerosis.

Natalizumab, is a monoclonal antibody which targets a protein called a4ß1 integrin on white blood cells involved in inflammation.

Natalizumab was approved for medical use in the United States in 2004.

Natalizumab is FDA-approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis; in the US it is used for Crohn's disease.

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Natalizumab offers a limited improvement in efficacy compared to other treatments for MS, but due to the lack of information about long-term use, as well as potentially fatal adverse events, reservations have been expressed over the use of the drug outside of comparative research with existing medications.

Natalizumab is contraindicated for people with known hypersensitivity to the drug or its components and in patients with a history of PML .

Natalizumab has been linked to melanoma, though the association is unclear.

Natalizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against alpha-4 integrin, the first drug developed in the class of selective adhesion molecule inhibitors.

Natalizumab appears to reduce the transmission of immune cells into the central nervous system by interfering with the a4ß1-integrin receptor molecules on the surfaces of cells.

Natalizumab appears to interact with other immune-modulating drugs to increase the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, an often-fatal opportunistic infection caused by the JC virus.

Natalizumab's label indicates that it is contraindicated for immunosuppressed individuals or those with a history of PML.

Natalizumab was originally approved for treatment of multiple sclerosis in 2004, through the FDA's accelerated Fast Track program, due to the drug's efficacy in one-year clinical trials.

Natalizumab is the only drug after alosetron withdrawn for safety reasons that returned to the US market.