Rheumatoid Arthritis Support

Ofatumumab (trade name Arzerra. The drug is also known as HuMax-CD20) is a human monoclonal antibody (for the CD20 protein) which appears to inhibit early-stage B lymphocyte activation. It is FDA approved for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia and has also shown potential in treating follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. It was approved by the FDA as a fast track product only for people suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who do not respond to current available treatments.

On January 30, 2009, Genmab submitted a Biologic License Application to the FDA to use Ofatumumab to treat cases of CLL. On February 26, 2009, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) approved a Marketing Authorization Application for the same use. This makes ofatumumab the first marketing application for an antibody produced by Genmab, as well as the first human monoclonal antibody which targets the CD20 molecule that will be available for patients with refractory CLL.


Adapted from the Wikipedia article Ofatumumab, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki