Cimzia for kids

[my little penguin]

Has anyone had a child on Cimzia?

I know its approved for adult use but not sure if any kiddos have used it?

I am trying to prepare for the next couple of weeks.

:yfaint:


THANKS for all the help so far :biggrin:

 

[my little penguin]

Ongoing Study Commitments

UCB Pharma has agreed to conduct a study in pediatric patients, "A Phase II Open-Label Multi-Center Study to Assess the Safety and Effcacy ofCertolizumab pegol in Children and Adolescents with Active Crohn's Disease" (Study CDP870-035). This study is proposed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, safety and clinical response of pediatric patients, ages 6-17, with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease to treatment with Cimzia.
Protocol Submission: September 2008
Study Start Date: June 2009
Final Report Submission: October 2013

From:
http://www.medilexicon.com/drugs/cimzia_985.php

I definitely need to do more research.
NOt sure since his size is so small compared to a teenager only 25-26 kg.

 

[Judith]

There is a green ad that periodically comes up for Cimzia from the company itself. It says Cimzia is not approved for use in children. Based on the information you found though, they are working on it.
Good luck.

 

[Crohn's Mom]

Hi mlp,

Yes, my daughter is currently on Cimzia, however she started it right after her 18th birthday. As Judith has pointed out, it has not yet been approved for children under that age yet.

Gabrielle has had success so far with it, and not too many side affects that weren't able to be "dealt" with. It really was a blessing for her. We are beginning to wonder this time around if it is still working as well, but it may be too soon to tell.
Here's a link that pretty much covers our experience with it, if you would like to check it out.
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=18165&highlight=cimzia

Best of luck!

 

[my little penguin]

Thanks a bunch. :soledance:
Wish Cimzia was an option but for now if he needs a biologic I think we are going to have to go with Humria since it at least has kiddie doses.

 

[Jenn]

That was the last I'd heard so far, that Cimzia isn't approved yet for kids. Humira is often approved for kids only after failure with Remicade. by the by, all 3 are biologics - TNF inhibitors, just to be clear.

 

[my little penguin]

Thanks -Jenn
We are only looking at Humira since it is not an infusion.
Infusions, Remicade in particular, has a higher rate (1.5%) of anaphylaxis.
My son has already gone through anaphylaxis( inability to breathe, swollen throat and drop in blood pressure) once. He has also had a reaction to contrast dye during his last CT. Any future use of contrast will require pretreat with pred 24 hours before and benadryl day of.

So I will be asking the GI to try Humira first if he needs to go on a biologic. Since Humira is human protein and not part mouse protein. According to his allergist the Human protein would be less likely to cause a reaction in Ds's case ( still a possibility but slightly lower risk for him). The allergist also agreed to conduct a skin prick test with Humria prior to his first injection. This will just give us one more data point to go on but won't guarantee he won't have anaphylaxis during the injection or future injections. He is severely allergic to many things including foods, bees, tree, grass, molds etc...

Anaphylaxis is like being able to sing the perfect pitch some people can and some never will.

Also once someone has had anaphylaxis once just like labor it usually progresses more rapidly the next time.