New dosing recommendations have been approved for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals’ immunosuppressant Rapamune (sirolimus). It is the only drug with dosing recommendations to specifically treat renal transplant recipients at high immunologic risk.
In addition to the established regimen of using it in combination with cyclosporine and corticosteroids for the first year following a transplant, the new dosing recommendations allow use in combination with antibody induction therapy.
Immunosuppressed patients have a greater likelihood of developing acute rejection than low-to-moderate risk kidney transplant recipients.
Continue Reading
Blacks are the largest segment of the high immunologic risk population, which also includes repeat recipients who lost a transplant for immunologic reasons. Rapamune inhibits lymphocyte proliferation by arresting T cell development early in the cell cycle.
