Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with chimeric monoclonal antibodies to tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a chimeric monoclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Twenty patients with active RA were treated with 20 mg/kg of anti-TNF alpha in an open phase I/II trial lasting 8 weeks.

Results: The treatment was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events.

The transfer of a laboratory based hypothesis to a clinically useful therapy: the development of anti-TNF therapy of rheumatoid arthritis.

The development of anti-TNF therapy is a key step forward in rheumatology as it is the first new therapy for based on investigating the molecular mechanisms of this disease. This chapter reviews how this discovery was made.