Omalizumab

Omalizumab, sold under the brand name Xolair among others, is an injectable medication to treat severe persistent allergic forms of asthma, nasal polyps, urticaria (hives), and immunoglobulin E-mediated food allergy.

Omalizumab is a recombinant DNA-derived humanized IgG1monoclonal antibody which specifically binds to free human immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the blood and interstitial fluid and to the membrane-bound form of IgE (mIgE) on the surface of mIgE-expressing B lymphocytes.

In 1987, Tanox filed its first patent application on the anti-IgE drug candidate. Omalizumab was approved for medical use in the United States in June 2003, and authorized in the European Union in October 2005.