Satralizumab: A Review in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder
Declarations
Funding The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.
Authorship and Conflict of interest Simon Fung and Matt Shirley are salaried employees of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, and declare no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.
Ethics approval, Consent to participate, Consent to publish, Availability of data and material, Code availability Not applicable.
Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found here.
Abstract
Satralizumab (Enspryng®) is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor and is approved for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in patients who are aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG) seropositive. Patients with NMOSD are at risk of recurrent autoimmune attacks that primarily target the optic nerves and spinal cord but may also target other regions of the central nervous system; these attacks can lead to life-long disability. In the randomized, placebo-controlled phase III SAkuraSky and SAkuraStar trials, subcutaneous satralizumab as an add-on to immunosuppressive therapy or as a monotherapy, respectively, significantly reduced the risk of relapse compared with placebo in patients who were AQP4-IgG seropositive with NMOSD. Satralizumab was well tolerated; the most common adverse events were infection, headache, arthralgia, decreased white blood cell count, hyperlipidaemia and injection-related reactions. In the EU, satralizumab is the first IL-6 receptor blocker to be approved for treatment of AQP4-IgG-seropositive patients with NMOSD, has the potential advantage of subcutaneous administration, and is the only targeted treatment approved for adolescent patients with this disorder. Thus, satralizumab is a valuable treatment option for patients with NMOSD.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
SAkuraStar and SAkuraSky clinical trials additional information
Additional information about NMO and NMOSD and the SAkuraStar and SAkuraSky trials can be found in two peer-reviewed video abstracts, which are sponsored by Roche and were uploaded to Figshare after the satralizumab AdisInsight Report was published.
