Generic name:inotuzumab ozogamicin
Dosage form: intravenous (infusion) injection
Drug class:Miscellaneous antineoplastics
What is Besponsa?
Besponsa is a antineoplastic biological drug used to treat adults with a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which is also known as acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Besponsa is an antibody-drug conjugate - it uses an antibody to target an anticancer drug to B-cell leukemia cells.
B-cells, which are also known as B-lymphocytes, are part of your immune system and usually help to fight infection. But in people with ALL, the B-cells grow and divide much faster than normal. The abnormal B-cells build up in the bone marrow where they are made, and then spread to the blood and other parts of the body causing ALL. The abnormal B-cells are not fully developed and don't work properly.
Besponsa uses a humanized immunoglobulin class G subtype 4 (IgG4) kappa antibody called inotuzumab to target a cytotoxic drug called calicheamicin to the leukemia cells.
Inotuzumab targets CD22, which is a sialoglycoprotein found on the surface of B-cells. CD22 regulates how B-cells function and proliferate. Inotuzumab delivers the anti-tumor antibiotic calicheamicin to the cancer cells, where it is internalized into the cells. Once inside the cell, calicheamicin is released and works by inducing DNA double strand breaks, which cause the cancer cells to die.
Besponsa was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017. No biosimilars of Besponsa have been approved. Biosimilars are highly similar versions of the drug that are designed to have the same effect on a person, but they are not identical to the original version of the drug.
What is Besponsa used for?
Besponsa is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL.
It is not known ...
