Abatacept (Intravenous)

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Apr 14, 2022.

Commonly used brand name(s)

In the U.S.

• Orencia

Available Dosage Forms:

• Solution
• Powder for Solution

Therapeutic Class: Antirheumatic

Uses for abatacept

Abatacept injection is used alone or together with other medicines to treat moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis. Abatacept helps keep joint damage from getting worse after other medicines have been used and did not work well.

Abatacept injection is also used alone or together with methotrexate to treat moderate to severe active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA).

Abatacept injection is also used alone or together with other medicines to treat active psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which is a type of arthritis that causes pain and swelling in the joints along with patches of scaly skin on some areas of the body.

Abatacept injection is also used together with other medicines (eg, calcineurin inhibitor, methotrexate) to prevent acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in patients who will undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from a matched or 1 allele-mismatched unrelated donor.

Abatacept is available only with your doctor's prescription.

Before using abatacept

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For abatacept, the following should be considered:

Allergies

Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to abatacept or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.

Pediatric

Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of abatacept injection in children 2 years of age and older to treat pJIA and to prevent aGVHD. However, safety and efficacy have not been established in children younger than 2 years of age.

Geriatric

Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of abatacept injection in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more sensitive to the effects of abatacept than younger adults and are more likely to have cancer and serious infections, which may require caution in patients receiving abatacept injection.

Breastfeeding

There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding.

Interactions with medicines

Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking abatacept, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance ...