THALIDOMIDE RESURGENCE
Dr.Manish Mohan
Contents
• Introduction
• Thalidomide pharmacology
• Thalidomide revival
• Thalidomide today
Historic perspective
• Developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company CIBA -1953
• German pharmaceutical company Chemi Grunenthal – 1956
• Contergan
Cont….
Median lethal dose
• Morning sickness
Dr William McBride Dr Widukind Lenz
Cont…..
• Amelia
• Phocomelia
• Syndactyly
• Underdeveloped long bones
10,000 infants affected
1961 –THALIDOMIDE Banned
DIRECT RESULT- THALIDOMIDE INCIDENT
• USA - 1962 amendment to Federal Food, drug & Cosmetic Act
• UK - 1964 Yellow card scheme
• WHO - 1968 Program for International Drug Monitoring
Dr Frances Kelsey
PHARMACOLOGY
CONT…….
Cont…..
• Poorly soluble in water and ethanol
• Undergoes rapid spontaneous (nonenzymatic) degradation
• Rapid chiral interconversion between the two isomers
Proposed mechanisms of action
• Enhances the immune system effector cells
• Suppresses angiogenesis
• Inhibits various cytokine mediators
• Interferes with the bone marrow stromal cell-malignant plasma cell
interaction
Pharmacological properties
• Anxiolytic
• Antiemetic
• Anti-inflammatory
• Cytokine (TNFα, ILs, interferon) modulatory property
Pharmacokinetics
• Tmax - 2.9 to 5.7 hours
• PPB
55% and 66%, respectively, for (+)-(R)- and (-)-(S)-thalidomide
• Metabolism
- Hepatic – CYP3A4
- Non enzymatic degradation
- End Product - Phthalic Acid
Toxicity
Teratogenicity
Peripheral neuropathy
Toxic epidermal necrolysis
Tremor
Interstitial pneumonia
DRUG INTERACTIONS
Opioids, antihistamines, antipsychotics,
anti-anxiety agents, Alcohol
Additive sedative effect
Bortezomib, amiodarone, cisplatin,
docetaxel, paclitaxel
Peripheral neuropathy
Additive effect
Hormonal contraceptives Risk of thromboembolism
Thalidomide revival
Cont….
Dr Jacob Sheskin( 1964)
Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL)
Resolution(48 hours)
Cont……..
Sarcoidosis
Cutaneous
lupus
Behçet's
syndrome
Inflammatory
bowel
diseases
Ankylosing
spondylitis
Rheumatoid
arthritis
Cont…..
 Chronic graft-versus- host disease (GVHD)
200-1600 mg per day
Higher incidence of chronic GVHD and a lower overall survival
Cont….
• Thalidomide emerged as an effective drug
• HIV wasting syndrome
• Kaposi's sarcoma
• Aphthous ulcer
Immunomodulatory derivatives
Lenalidomide (Revlimid, CC-5013) Pomalidomide (CC-4047)
THALIDOMIDE
Myelodysplastic syndrome (with 5q- syndrome)
Anticytokine immunomodulatory and anti-angiogenic properties
FDA approval -2005
Lenalidomide (Revlimid)
Plasma cell myeloma
May 2006 – FDA Approval
Newly diagnosed plasma cell myeloma
Thalidomide + Dexamethasone
Pomalidomide FDA – FEB 2013
Relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma
Gastrointestinal
• Behcet's disease.
• Recurrent aphthous oral ulceration.
• HIV associated oral and esophageal ulceration.
• Crohn’s disease.
Rheumatological
• Rheumatoid arthritis.
• Systemic lupus erythematosus.
• Discoid lupus erythematosus.
• Sjogren's syndrome.
• Sarcoidosis.
Dermatological
• Leprosy
• Actinic pruritis
• Pyoderma gangrenosum
Hematological malignancy
• Multiple myeloma
• Myelodysplasia
• Acute myeloid leukemia/chronic myeloid leukemia
Cachexia and weight loss
• HIV associated wasting
• Cancer cachexia
• Tuberculosis associated wasting
Miscellaneous
• Graft versus host disease
Summary
• Phocomelia
• Anxiolytic
• Antiemetic
• Anti-inflammatory
• Cytokine (TNFα, ILs, interferon) modulatory property
Reference
1. The Rise, Fall and Subsequent Triumph of Thalidomide: Lessons Learned
in Drug Development
doi: 10.1177/2040620711413165
2. Goodman & Gilman's: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics
3. Essentials of Medical Pharmacology KDT
No limits :The
Thalidomide Saga
(2016)

Thalidomide

Editor's Notes

  • #4  Nonbarbiturate hypnotic sedative able to produce deep sleep
  • #7 White arrow: fusion at the elbow joint and absence of fingers; Yellow arrow: absence of radius and shortening of ulna
  • #10 John F. Kennedy in 1962
  • #12 The (R)-form is responsible for sedative effects and the (S)-form is responsible for immunomodulatory effects.
  • #13 Off-white to white crystalline powder
  • #20 Despite being banned from commercial markets, thalidomide remained available primarily in developing countries
  • #21 World Health Organization published the results of a randomized trial that confirmed the efficacy of thalidomide in ENL1971