Vaccination success without B cells

Communication between immune cells determines response to vaccination

16-Jul-2021 - Immunosuppressed patients often cannot build up good protection after a vaccination because the necessary cells of the immune system function less well or are not present at all. This has been studied especially in the drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists from TWINCORE and the ...

Anti-cancer drug’s mode of operation deciphered

How the membrane protein CD20 keeps the immune system’s antibody-producing cells in check

12-Feb-2021 - Rituximab, an anti-cancer drug targeting the membrane protein CD20, was the first approved therapeutic antibody against B tumor cells. Immunologists at the University of Freiburg have now solved a mystery about how it works. A team headed by Professor Dr. Michael Reth used cell cultures, healthy ...

Explaining why myasthenia patients relapse after treatment

11-Sep-2017 - A new Yale-led study helps explain why some myasthenia gravis (MG) patients relapse after initially responding to a drug called rituximab, commonly used to treat the incurable autoimmune disease marked by muscle weakness and fatigue. In patients with MG, B cells — a subset of white cells that ...

New method enables creation of better therapeutic antibodies

15-Mar-2017 - Antibodies are the foot soldiers of our immune system. These specialized, Y-shaped proteins attach to bacteria and viruses, where they either block the pathogen's activity directly, or signal the immune system's cells to destroy the invader. The second function--the ability to target invaders for ...

The Top 5 Pharmaceutical Companies Generate Over a Third of Global Revenues by Blockbuster Drugs

Diabetes and arthritis are the top indications, alongside cancer therapy, in 2013

09-Jan-2015 - Over a third of global revenues by the 200 most widely sold blockbuster drugs were generated by the largest companies in 2013. Roche, Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson und Merck & Co. achieved combined sales of 135 Bn US$ with their blockbuster drugs, making them the pharma companies with the ...

B-cells aggravate autoimmune diseases

Antibody producers regulate the immune response using a recently discovered mechanism

07-Mar-2014 - Scientists in Freiburg may have discovered a fundamental aggravating factor in autoimmune diseases. If B-lymphocytes lack the protein PTP1B, the cells will become hyperactive for stimulatory signals and can thus promote an autoimmune attack. This study offers an additional explanation to how ...

Molecular robots can help researchers build more targeted therapeutics

Study demonstrates technique to create better anti-cancer agents, arthritis drugs, and more

31-Jul-2013 - Many drugs such as agents for cancer or autoimmune diseases have nasty side effects because while they kill disease-causing cells, they also affect healthy cells. Now a new study has demonstrated a technique for developing more targeted drugs, by using molecular "robots" to hone in on more ...

Video reveals cancer cells' Achilles' heel

25-Apr-2013 - Scientists from the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR) have discovered why a particular cancer drug is so effective at killing cells. Their findings could be used to aid the design of future cancer treatments. Professor Daniel Davis and his team used high quality ...

Sandoz announces phase II clinical trial for biosimilar version of leading monoclonal antibody rituximab

14-Jan-2011 - Sandoz announced that it has begun a phase II clinical trial in patients for biosimilar rituximab (Roche's Rituxan® / Mabthera®), a monoclonal antibody indicated in conditions including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis.The phase II study in patients suffering from rheumatoid ...