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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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.
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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