Complement inhibition in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria: From biology to therapy

Complement inhibitors are the mainstay of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria: (par-uk-SIZ-muhl nok-TURN-uhl hee-muh-gloe-buh-NYOOR-ee-uh) A rare and serious blood disease that causes red blood cells to break apart. Paroxysmal means sudden and irregular. Nocturnal means at night. Hemoglobinuria means hemoglobin in the urine. Hemoglobin is the red part of red blood cells. A… (PNH) treatment. The anti-C5 monoclonal antibody monoclonal antibody: A type of protein called an antibody that is engineered to look for a specific substance in the body. There are many kinds of monocloncal antibodies. Each one looks for only one substance. Eculizumab (Soliris) is an monoclonal antibody that may be prescribed to treat patients with paroxysmal… eculizumab eculizumab: Eculizumab (Soliris ®) is given as an IV into a vein at the doctor’s office or at a special center. The procedure usually takes about 35 minutes. You will probably get an IV once a week for the first 4 weeks. Starting in the 5th week, you will get a slightly higher dose of Soliris every 2 weeks. … was the first treatment to improve hemolysis hemolysis: (hi-MOL-uh-suss) The destruction of red blood cells. , thrombotic risk, and survival in PNH although at the price of a life-long intravenous fortnightly drug. Additionally, suboptimal response may occur in up to 2/3 of patients with persistent anemia anemia: (uh-NEE-mee-uh) A condition in which there is a shortage of red blood cells in the bloodstream. This causes a low red blood cell count. Symptoms of anemia are fatigue and tiredness. due to incomplete control of intravascular hemolysis, development of upstream C3-mediated extravascular hemolysis (EVH), or concomitant bone marrow failure bone marrow failure: A condition that occurs when the bone marrow stops making enough healthy blood cells. The most common of these rare diseases are aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Bone marrow failure can be acquired (begin any time in life) or can be… . Ravulizumab, a longer half-life anti-C5 developed from eculizumab, administered every 8 weeks, improved patient convenience, and reduced pharmacokinetic breakthrough hemolysis (BTH) by establishing more stable anti-C5 concentrations. More recently, several other anti-C5 compounds (crovalimab, pozelimab pozelimab: Pozelimab is a monoclonal antibody inhibiting the pathway associated with haemolysis of red blood cells. The drug is intended to decrease LDH levels and the incidence of breakthrough haemolysis. , tesidolumab, cemdisiran, zilucoplan, and coversin) are on study in clinical trials clinical trials: Clinical research is at the heart of all medical advances, identifying new ways to prevent, detect or treat disease. If you have a bone marrow failure disease, you may want to consider taking part in a clinical trial, also called a research study. Understanding Clinical Trials Clinical… . Upstream inhibition of complement cascade was also explored with the anti-C3 pegcetacoplan pegcetacoplan: EMPAVELI® is the first PNH treatment that binds to complement protein C3. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May 2021 for treating adult patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). EMPAVELI is given skin (subcutaneously) by using the Empaveli injector or with an… , and with the alternative pathway inhibitors iptacopan iptacopan: FABHALTA, a complement factor B inhibitor, is the first oral medication approved to treat adults with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2023. Fabhalta is taken twice a day in a capsule form. What is FABHALTA? … (anti-factor B) and danicopan danicopan: VOYDEYA is a prescription medicine used along with ravulizumab or eculizumab to treat breakdown of red blood cells that takes place outside of blood vessels (extravascular hemolysis), in adults with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).   What is VOYDEYA? VOYDEYA is a… (anti-factor D). These drugs efficiently target EVH and are able to improve anemia and transfusion need in suboptimal responders to anti-C5. The route and schedule of administration (twice weekly subcutaneously for pegcetacoplan and twice or thrice oral daily dosing for iptacopan and danicopan, respectively) are very convenient but pose novel issues regarding adherence. Additionally, both anti-C5 and upstream inhibitors do not resolve the unmet need of pharmacodynamic BTH events due to complement amplifying conditions such as infections, traumas, and surgery. In this review, we will recapitulate PNH physiopathology, clinical presentation, and diagnosis and describe available and developing drugs that will lead to a precision medicine approach for this rare though heterogenous disease.