Table 1 Biochemical and clinical profiles of anti‐TNF agents1,13.
| Agent (company) | Mechanism of action | Administration (half life) | Status | Average dose (duration) varies with severity, disease and body weight | Adverse effect | Monitoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etanercept | TNF‐α inhibitor | SC twice weekly | FDA approved for | 25 mg SC 2×/week | Injection site | CBC |
| (Amgen Wyeth) | TNF receptor | (4 days) | RA, JA, AS | (24 weeks) or 50 mg | reaction | |
| psoriasis, psoriatic | SC 2×/week (24 weeks) | |||||
| arthritis | in adult; 0.4 mg/kg | |||||
| 2×/week in paediatric | ||||||
| Infliximab (Centocor) | TNF‐α inhibitor | IV infusion | Phase III trials for | 3 mg/kg (0, 2, | Anaphylactic | Baseline PPD; |
| chimeric antibody | >120 min | psoriasis, FDA | 6 weeks) or | reactions; | liver enzymes | |
| (9 days) | approved for RA, | 5 mg/kg | tuberculosis | |||
| psoriatic arthritis, | (0, 2, 6 weeks) | |||||
| Crohn's disease | ||||||
| Adalimumab | TNF‐α inhibitor‐ | SC once weekly/ | FDA approved for | 80 mg week 0, 1 | Tuberculosis; | Baseline PPD; |
| (Abbott Laboratories) | human antibody | every other week | RA phase III trials | then 40 mg q week | injection site | liver enzymes |
| (15 days) | for psoriasis, | (12 weeks) | reaction | |||
| psoriatic arthritis | or q 2 weeks in adult; | |||||
| 20–40 mg q 2 weeks | ||||||
| in paediatric |
AS, ankylosing spondylitis; CBC, complete blood count; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; IV, intravenous; JA, juvenile arthritis; PPD, purified protein derivative; q week, once weekly; q 2 weeks, once every 2 weeks; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SC, subcutaneous.