Certolizumab pegol: in Crohn's disease.

Certolizumab pegol is a pegylated humanized Fab' fragment of an anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) monoclonal antibody, which binds with high affinity to both membrane-bound and soluble TNFalpha and demonstrates high neutralizing potency for these factors. The elimination half-life of certolizumab in humans has been extended to approximate/= 2 weeks through pegylation, allowing subcutaneous administration of this agent once every 4 weeks. Subcutaneous certolizumab pegol 400mg once every 4 weeks (with an additional 400mg dose at week 2) was effective as induction and maintenance therapy in patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease in whom baseline serum C-reactive protein levels were >/=10 mg/L, according to data from two well designed, randomized phase III trials. Certolizumab pegol was, in general, well tolerated, and adverse events associated with the drug were of a mild to moderate nature; no instances of lupus were reported in any of the trials.