Introduction
Humira is the trade name for the biological Adalimumab, which is used for the treatment of for example rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic diseases, psoriasis and chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases. It is injected under the abdominal skin every two weeks. Remarkable is beside its various application also its price: One application costs approx. 1000€. This makes it one of the most expensive drugs on the German market.
What is Humira?
Humira or its active ingredient Adalimumab is a so-called monoclonal antibody. Antibodies are proteins that are produced by the immune system to recognize and fend off intruders such as bacteria and viruses. Monoclonal means that the antibody is derived from a single cell line and is only directed against a specific “hostile” structure.
In contrast, an antibody produced by the immune response in the human body is always directed against different characteristics. The “-mab” at the end of the name indicates that it stands for the English “monoclonal Antibody”. Humira is directed against the so-called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which plays an important role in the human inflammatory reaction. Thus Humira inhibits an excessive inflammatory reaction.
What are biologics?
Biologics are a fairly new group of drugs that mimic molecules found in the human body and are produced biotechnologically by genetically modified organisms. On the one hand, proteins (for example monoclonal antibodies, hormones or vaccines) and nucleic acids are produced; these are the building blocks of DNA. Since the biologicals are modelled on the molecules that are already present in the body, they intervene very specifically in the processes in the body and are becoming increasingly important because of the possibility of solving very specific problems with them.
Indications for Humira
Humira inhibits excessive immune reactions of the body and is used for the treatment of such: It is used in chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, many rheumatic diseases, psoriasis, acne inversa and non-infectious inflammation of the middle eye skin (uveitis). As a rule, Humira is only used in cases of moderate to severe disease and usually only when other therapeutic approaches have failed. Patients with Crohn’s disease suffer from episodes of gastrointestinal disorders caused by an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that penetrates the organ wall.
A distinction is made between therapy in acute attacks and therapy to prevent the occurrence of an attack. TNF-α blockers such as Humira are used both to prevent a new episode and to treat a particularly severe acute episode. Studies have also shown that they are effective in improving symptoms.
Similar to Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that progresses in relapses and particularly affects the colon. Ulcerative colitis can also be treated with TNF-α blockers such as Humira, but usually only after standard therapy has failed or is no longer tolerated. Since ulcerative colitis is usually well-tolerated by standard therapy and surgical removal of the colon is also available as a curative option in the worst case, the use of biologicals, some of which have very serious side effects, is less justifiable here than in Crohn’s disease, which is more difficult to treat.
Non-infectious uveitis is an inflammation of the middle skin of the eye, which can occur in association with various diseases, including chronic inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid joint diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis or sarcoidosis. Such uveitis, which is not directly caused by a pathogen such as viruses or bacteria, can also be treated with the help of Humira, as this too is an excessive inflammatory reaction. However, Humira is not a first-line therapy in this case either; initially other drugs such as cortisone are used.
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