Which Neurologic Conditions Can Biologics Help Treat?
Years of neuroscience research have led to the development of biologic drugs that have given doctors and patients renewed hope for improved treatment options for diseases like multiple sclerosis, autoimmune polyneuropathy, neuromuscular diagnoses, and Alzheimer’s.
Watch the Video: Which Neurologic Conditions Can Biologics Help Treat?
How do Biologics Help Manage Neurologic Conditions?
The use of Biologics offers promising strategies for intervening in brain function and disease. Although the offering of biologic treatments for brain and central nervous disorders is limited, there is no denying that the existing drugs fundamentally change the clinical treatment of these diseases.
Biologics work very differently from more traditional forms of drugs. Unlike conventional treatment courses, which use simple molecules produced from sequenced chemical reactions between inorganic materials, biologics work by inserting a DNA sequence into living cells or organisms. These cells then grow and build a large, complex protein using their natural machinery.
This way, biologics provide enormous rewards for patients and treating physicians because they interact with the body’s natural cellular processes allowing them to interfere with the way a disease causes damage rather than merely treating the symptoms of the disease.
Additionally, biologic therapy targets specific pathways, allowing it to become a personalized treatment that addresses the patient’s particular condition. For example, biologics can supply deficient enzymes in certain disorders or increase or decrease the body’s supply of specific proteins known to cause damage.
Biologics Available for the Treatment of Neurological Conditions
Current biologics available for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis
LEMTRADA® (alemtuzumab)
LEMTRADA® is a prescription biologic for treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), including relapsing-remitting disease and active secondary progressive disease in adults.
LEMTRADA® is an excellent treatment option for patients who have tried two or more MS medications that haven’t worked well enough. However, patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) should not take LEMTRADA®.
TYSABRI® (natalizumab)
TYSABRI® is a prescription medication for treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), including clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease in adults.
TYSABRI® helps slow disability progression and significantly reduce the number of yearly relapses.
OCREVUS® (ocrelizumab)
OCREVUS® is a prescription infusion biologic used to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults. OCREVUS® has proven helpful in treating clinically isolated syndrome, primary progressive MS, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease.
Current Biologics Available to Treat Autoimmune Polyneuropathy and Neuromuscular Diagnoses
Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg)
Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy benefits patients who have difficulties fighting off infections. In addition, this therapy can be used to treat patients with myasthenia gravis and multiple sclerosis.
Current Biologics Available to Treat Alzheimer’s
Aduhelm® (aducanumab)
Aduhelm® is the first biologic drug to address the underlying biology of Alzheimer’s disease. This drug targets amyloid-beta plaques and triggers the body’s defenses to attack and destroy them, thus helping to slow down or prevent clinical decline in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease.
What the Future Holds
Although the number of biologics designed to treat neurologic conditions is still limited, the good news is that the pipeline for this class of drugs with neurologic applications is robust.
At Altus Biologics, we constantly track the release of new biologic medications and work tirelessly to make these new therapies available for doctors and their patients.