Mechanisms of adverse drug reactions to biologics

Biologics encompass a broad range of therapeutics that include proteins and other products derived from living systems. Although the multiplicity of target organs often seen with new chemical entities is generally not seen with biologics, they can produce significant adverse reactions. Examples include IL-12 and an anti-CD28 antibody that resulted in patient deaths and/or long stays in intensive care units. Mechanisms of toxicities can be categorized as pharmacological or nonpharmacological, with most, excepting hypersensitivity reactions, associated with the interaction of the agent with its planned target. Unexpected toxicities generally arise as a result of previously unknown biology. Manufacturing quality is a significant issue relative to the toxicity of biologics. The development of recombinant technology represented the single biggest advance leading to humanized products with minimal or no contaminants in comparison to products purified from animal tissues. Nevertheless, the type of manufacturing process including choice of cell type, culture medium, and purification method can result in changes to the protein. For example, a change to the closure system for erythropoietin led to an increase in aplastic anemia as a result of changing the immunogenicity characteristics of the protein. Monoclonal antibodies represent a major class of successful biologics. Toxicities associated with these agents include those associated with the binding of the complementary determining region (CDR) with the target. First dose reactions or infusion reactions are generally thought to be mediated via the Fc region of the antibody activating cytokine release, and have been observed with several antibodies. Usually, these effects (flu-like symptoms, etc.) are transient with subsequent dosing. Although biologics can have nonpharmacologic toxicities, these are less common than with small molecule drugs.