Efgartigimod alfa 1g/5.6ml solution for injection vials
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Efgartigimod alfa
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1 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
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SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 17 · Randomised trials: 12 · 2019–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
J. M. Kirkwood, M. H. Strawderman, M. Ernstoff, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2023
Howard JF Jr, Bril V, Vu T, et al.
2021
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Headache
- Receptors, Cholinergic
U. Platzbecker, M. D. Della Porta, V. Santini, et al.
Lancet, 2023
Catherine M Broome, V. Mcdonald, Yoshitaka Miyakawa, et al.
Lancet, 2023
Jeffrey Allen, Jie Lin, I. Basta, et al.
The Lancet. Neurology, 2024
- Polyradiculoneuropathy, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating
- Injections, Subcutaneous
- Immunoglobulin Fc Fragments
B. Cho, J. Lee, Yi-long Wu, et al.
Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, 2023
Jia-Jun Cheng, Fu-Qiang Wang, Zhang-Yi Dai, et al.
European Journal of Medical Research, 2025
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune disorder affecting the neuromuscular junction, where autoreactive immunoglobulin G (IgG) plays a key role in disease pathogenesis. The novel biologic Efgartigimod is a neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) antagonist, promotes the lysosomal degradation of IgG, and may offer a targeted approach for managing MG. Despite the growing interest in efgartigimod, there remains a lack of comprehensive evaluation of its efficacy and safety in different MG subtypes. Comprehensive retrieval and screening were conducted on Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library to search studies on efgartigimod treatment. The data on response rates and adverse events were extracted, and the pooled effect size (ES) with the 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated by fixed or random effect models. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were employed to test the heterogeneity. Funnel plots and trim-and-fill methods were used to test for publication bias. Data from 10 studies involving 305 patients were analyzed. The overall treatment response rate was 78% (95% CI: 67%–87%, I2 = 73.4%). Subgroup analysis revealed pooled response rates of 79.2% (95% CI: 68.5%–88.4%, I2 = 25.08%) in acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive MG (AChR+MG) patients and 76.2% (95% CI: 56.8%–91.5%, I2 = 85.95%) in group that did not differentiate auto-antibody types. The pooled incidence of adverse events was 38% (95% CI: 17%–51%, I2 = 92.59%), with infections (7%, 95% CI: 2%–14%, I2 = 62.5%), headache (7%, 95% CI: 1%–18%, I2 = 82.69%) and other (16%, 95% CI: 7%–28%, I2 = 71.81%). Among them, grade 3–4 adverse events are 1% (95% CI: 0%–2%, I2 = 0%). Our study demonstrates that efgartigimod is highly effective and well-tolerated in patients with refractory MG. These findings suggest that efgartigimod is a promising drug for the treatment of MG.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND
Luca Richeldi, C. Schiffman, Jürgen Behr, et al.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2024
Eric L. Wallace, O. Goker-Alpan, William R. Wilcox, et al.
Journal of Medical Genetics, 2023
P. Kishnani, J. Díaz-Manera, A. Toscano, et al.
JAMA Neurology, 2023
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
80 to 120 hours
Mechanism
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder affecting the neuromuscular junction of the skeletal muscles.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Half-life
80 to 120 hours
[L39496]
Volume of distribution
[L39496]
Metabolism
[L39496]
Elimination
10 mg/k
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Efgartigimod alfa is a first-in-class[L39501] antagonist of the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) used in the treatment of MG.[L39496] IgG antibodies, including the autoantibodies responsible for MG symptoms, can be 'recycled', a process that significantly extends their half-life by evading lysosomal degradation via binding with FcRn.[L39509] By antagonizing this interaction, efgartigimod alfa prevents this recycling phase and thus decreases the half-life of IgG, effectively lowering circulating levels of IgG autoantibodies against AChRs.
Efgartigimod alfa for intravenous use was granted FDA approval on December 17, 2021[L39501] and European Commission approval on August 11, 2022 for use in patients with myasthenia gravis.[L43190] A formulation for subcutaneous use that combines efgartigimod alfa and hyaluronidase was later approved for the treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).[L47001][L47006]
[L39496][L43185][L47001]
In combination with recombinant human hyaluronidase, it is also indicated for the treatment of adult patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
[L43185][L47001]
Known interactions with other medicines. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 359 interactions
Immunoglobulin G, as opposed to other immunoglobulins, undergoes a recycling phase in the vascular endothelium that dramatically extends its half-life.[L39509] In the case of pathogenic IgGs causing MG, this may facilitate an increased ability to impair neuromuscular transmission. This recycling involves IgG binding to the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), which rescues IgG from lysosomal degradation.[L39509]
Efgartigimod alfa is a human IgG1 antibody fragment that binds to FcRn, thus preventing IgG recycling and subsequently reducing the amount of circulating IgG, including the autoantibodies responsible for MG.[L39496][L39509]
Because efgartigimod alfa reduces circulating IgG levels, patients undergoing therapy may be at greater risk of infection due to a depressed immune response.[L39496] It should not be initiated in patients with an active infection, and consideration should be given to holding therapy in patients who develop a serious infection during a treatment cycle.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[L39496]
[L39496]
[L39496]
[L39496]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:10933786 PMID:7964511
IgG in the milk is bound at the apical surface of the intestinal epithelium. The resultant FcRn-IgG complexes are transcytosed across the intestinal epithelium and IgG is released from FcRn into blood or tissue fluids.
Throughout life, contributes to effective humoral immunity by recycling IgG and extending its half-life in the circulation. Mechanistically, monomeric IgG binding to FcRn in acidic endosomes of endothelial and hematopoietic cells recycles IgG to the cell surface where it is released into the circulation .
PMID:10998088
In addition of IgG, regulates homeostasis of the other most abundant circulating protein albumin/ALB PMID:24469444 PMID:28330995
ATC L04AA58
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Efgartigimod alfa
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite:
- DrugBank 6.02024Recommended citationKnox C., Wilson M., Klinger C.M., et alDrugBank 6.0: the DrugBank Knowledgebase for 2024Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 552(D1):D1265-D1275
- DrugBank 5.02018Wishart D.S., Feunang Y.D., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank 5.0: a major update to the DrugBank database for 2018Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Nov 846(D1):D1074-D1082
- DrugBank 4.02014Law V., Knox C., Djoumbou Y., et alDrugBank 4.0: shedding new light on drug metabolismNucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan 142(1):D1091-7
- DrugBank 3.02011Knox C., Law V., Jewison T., et alDrugBank 3.0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugsNucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan39(Database issue):D1035-41
- DrugBank 2.02008Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a knowledgebase for drugs, drug actions and drug targets.Nucleic Acids Research2008 Jan36(Database issue):D901-6
- DrugBank 1.02006Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a comprehensive resource for in silico drug discovery and exploration.Nucleic Acids Research2006 Jan 134(Database issue):D668-72