Interferon beta-1a
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| Trade names | Avonex, Rebif, Plegridy, as well as biosimilars |
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Sub-cutaneous or Intramuscular Injection |
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| Biological half-life | 10 hrs |
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| Formula | C908H1408N246O252S7 |
| Molar mass | 20027.0 g/mol |
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Interferon beta-1a (also interferon beta 1-alpha) is a cytokine in the interferon family used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). It is produced by mammalian cells, while interferon beta-1b is produced in modified E. coli. Some claims have been made that Interferons produce about an 18–38% reduction in the rate of MS relapses.
Interferon beta has not been shown to slow the advance of disability. Interferons are not a cure for MS (there is no cure); the claim is that interferons may slow the progress of the disease if started early and continued for the duration of the disease.
The earliest clinical presentation of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is the clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), that is, a single attack of a single symptom. During a CIS, there is a subacute attack suggestive of demyelination which should be included in the spectrum of MS phenotypes. Treatment with interferons after an initial attack decreases the risk of developing clinical definite MS.
Medications are modestly effective at decreasing the number of attacks in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and in reducing the accumulation of brain lesions, which is measured using gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Interferons reduce relapses by approximately 30% and their safe profile make them the first-line treatments. Nevertheless, not all the patients are responsive to these therapies. It is known that 30% of MS patients are non-responsive to Beta interferon. They can be classified in genetic, pharmacological and pathogenetic non-responders. One of the factors related to non-respondance is the presence of high levels of interferon beta neutralizing antibodies. Interferon therapy, and specially interferon beta 1b, induces the production of neutralizing antibodies, usually in the second 6 months of treatment, in 5 to 30% of treated patients. Moreover, a subset of RRMS patients with specially active MS, sometimes called "rapidly worsening MS" are normally non-responders to interferon beta 1a.
While more studies of the long-term effects of the drugs are needed, existing data on the effects of interferons indicate that early-initiated long-term therapy is safe and it is related to better outcomes.
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Wikipedia