Efalizumab in the treatment of psoriasis: mode of action, clinical indications, efficacy, and safety.
Efalizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the CD11a subunit of the lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1. It has been approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Efalizumab has been shown in several clinical trials to be effective and well tolerated in the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. The safety profile of continuous therapy with efalizumab--as far as it is currently available--is favorable. Mode of action, pharmacological profile, clinical indications and efficacy, safety, and tolerability as well as practical considerations of efalizumab are reviewed in this article.
Schön
Michael P
MP
Rudolf Virchow Center, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Research Center for Experimental Biomedicine, Versbacher Str 9, 97078 Würzburg, Germany. michael.schoen@med.uni-goettingen.de