Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, has suspended late-stage clinical trials of a biologic drug being developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. The drug, ocrelizumab, is a fully human monoclonal antibody against CD-20 positive lymphocytes. In plain English, it was being developed as an anti-B cell therapy similar to Rituxan (rituximab).

Johns Hopkins reported that ocrelizumab was expected to "reduce the development of drug neutralizing antibodies and infusion reactions" compared to rituximab. In theory, sounds like progress. Instead, it has been established that the safety risk associated with ocrelizumab outweighed the benefits. Roche has disclosed that several patients died from infections -- the exact number has not yet been released. For now, although testing has been suspended for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, ocrelizumab is still being tested for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).

Related Resources:

• What Is a Monoclonal Antibody?
• Biologic Drugs Explained
• The Facts of Rituxan
• Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis - What You Should Know

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Roche Suspends Phase III Trials for Ocrelizumab originally appeared on About.com Arthritis on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 23:59:51.

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Sad news today. The wife and daughter of Senator Harry Reid D-NV suffered a rear end car accident.  Mrs. Reid is in a DC hospital with a broken neck and back.  She's listed in serious condition. UPDATE: On Friday, she had surgery.  The senator's daughter suffered a neck injury, but has already been released from the hospital.  Fortunately, neither women had life-threatening injuries, and feeling in the extremities of both remain intact.

Serious trauma to the spine may damage the spinal cord and cause paralysis.  A bad car wreck is one way this type of injury occurs.  It may cause a vertebra to dislocate (which ruptures ligaments that hold the bones together).  Severe dislocations are often accompanied by bone fractures, as well. For the person involved in the incident, rehabilitation is a long, hard road.  Generally they experience either complete or incomplete paralysis and loss of feeling below the level of the injury for the rest of their life.

Based on the press information that's been issued so far, we don't know if Mrs. Reid will be paralyzed. We'll have to wait for the surgeon's comments. I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: Just in (March 12, 2010) The Associated Press reports that the surgery "successfully stabilized Mrs. Reid's broken neck", and that although her injuries are serious, her doctor says Mrs. Reid "is not at risk of paralysis".

Senator Reid had this to say on his Twitter page:

Thanks to everyone who has reached out with kind words today. Our family is grateful for your support and prayers.

| 10 Ways to Prevent a Broken Neck | Back Pain | What is a Broken Neck? |

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Senator Reid's Wife and Daughter Suffer Neck and Back Injuries from Car Accident originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 21:45:03.

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