Biologic agents offer potentially disease-modifying benefits that address long-term symptom control.
Adalimumab was developed to be a fully human
monoclonal antibody and an advancement over previously developed biologics.
Adalimumab induces and maintains long-term clinical response and remission in patients with moderate-to-severe
Crohn's disease (CD) who had failed to respond to conventional
therapy. In addition,
adalimumab is effective in patients who cannot tolerate or who have lost response to
infliximab therapy. Clinical trials demonstrate that
adalimumab reduces the risk of CD-related hospitalization, maintains rapid complete
fistula closure and is
steroid-sparing, especially when administered early in the course of the disease.
Adalimumab is generally well-tolerated by patients with moderate-to-severe CD.
Opportunistic infections occurred in approximately 2% of
adalimumab-treated patients and
malignant neoplasms occurred in approximately 1% of patients, with no differences compared with placebo during the randomized, placebo-controlled portions of the
adalimumab trials. This article reviews the efficacy and safety of
adalimumab in the treatment of adult patients with CD and discusses the role of
adalimumab in the current and future management of CD.