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Omalizumab for Chronic Urticaria: Aftermarket Reports of Efficacy and Side Effects

  • Cutaneous Drug Reactions (J Brieva, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this study was to review real-life studies on effectiveness and safety of omalizumab in chronic urticaria (CU).

Recent Findings

CU is an itching skin disease characterized by wheals, angioedema, or both (present >6 weeks). Omalizumab is a humanized anti-IgE monoclonal antibody approved for treatment of CU and is becoming one of the main treatment options for antihistamine-resistant CU; however, real-life studies on long-term effectiveness and safety are lacking.

Summary

We present an overview of the real-life literature totaling 505 patients with an age range of 7–82 years, on the effectiveness and safety of omalizumab used for CU since 2013. A complete response to omalizumab was seen among 64% of the patients, whereas 25% obtained partial response. On average, 15% had no or very limited response. Fifteen patients from five studies reported side effects. Overall, omalizumab was effective and well-tolerated for patients with antihistamine-resistant CU.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Correspondence to Simon Francis Thomsen.

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Conflict of Interest

Misbah Noshela Ghazanfar declares no conflicts of interest.

Simon Francis Thomsen is a speaker and investigator and has received consultant fees and research grants from Novartis.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cutaneous Drug Reactions

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Ghazanfar, M.N., Thomsen, S.F. Omalizumab for Chronic Urticaria: Aftermarket Reports of Efficacy and Side Effects. Curr Derm Rep 6, 48–54 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13671-017-0182-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13671-017-0182-9

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