Enbrel

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Pharmacy Product Info » Famous Brand Names »Enbrel

Brand- Name	Enbrel
Generic Name	Etanercept
Company	Wyeth
Disease/Medical Use	Rheumatoid arthritis
First Approval Date	Nov-1998

Etanercept is a drug that treats autoimmune diseases by snooping with the tumor necrosis factor by acting as a TNF inhibitor.

Etanercept is a fusion protein produced through expression of recombinant DNA. That is, it is a product of a DNA "construct" engineered to link the human gene for soluble TNF receptor 2 to the gene for the Fc component of human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1). Expression of the construct produces a continuous protein "fusing" TNF receptor 2 to IgG1. Production of Etanercept is accomplished by the large-scale culturing of cells that have been "cloned" to express this recombinant DNA construct.

The prototypic fusion protein was first synthesized and shown to be highly active and unusually stable as a modality for obstruction of TNF in vivo in the early 1990s by Bruce A. Beutler, an academic researcher then at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and his colleagues.These investigators also patented the protein,selling all rights to its use to Immunex, a biotechnology company that was acquired by Amgen in 2002.

Etanercept is an injectable drug that blocks tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and is used for treating rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. TNF alpha is a protein that the body produces during the inflammatory response, the body's reaction to injury. TNF alpha promotes the inflammation and its associated fever and signs (pain, tenderness, and swelling) in several inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Etanercept is a synthetic (man-made) protein that binds to TNF alpha. It thereby acts like a sponge to remove most of the TNF alpha molecules from the joints and blood. This prevents TNF alpha from promoting inflammation and the fever, pain, tenderness and swelling of joints in patients with rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Etanercept reduces the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, the arthritis of psoriasis, and ankylosing spondylitis. It prevents the progressive destruction of the joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the arthritis of psoriasis.