Omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech / Novartis) is a humanized antibody drug approved for patients with moderate-to-severe or severe allergic asthma, which is caused by hypersensitivity reactions to certain harmless environmental substances. Omalizumab's cost is high ($10,000 to $30,000 per year), as compared to other drugs used for asthma, and hence omalizumab is mainly prescribed for patients with severe, persistent asthma, which cannot be controlled...
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Omalizumab (Xolair, Genentech / Novartis) is a humanized antibody drug approved for patients with moderate-to-severe or severe allergic asthma, which is caused by hypersensitivity reactions to certain harmless environmental substances. Omalizumab's cost is high ($10,000 to $30,000 per year), as compared to other drugs used for asthma, and hence omalizumab is mainly prescribed for patients with severe, persistent asthma, which cannot be controlled even with high doses of corticosteroids. Like other protein and antibody drugs, omalizumab causes anaphylaxis (a life-threatening systemic allergic reaction) in 1 to 2 patients per 1,000.
Omalizumab is a recombinant DNA-derived humanized IgG1k monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to human immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE is commonly involved with allergies when present in high amounts in the body.
Tanox, a biopharmaceutical company based in Houston, Texas, started the anti-IgE program, created antibody drug candidates, and filed its first...
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