Affordable anti-rejection drug effective

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has found a newer, less expensive drug used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients is as effective as a more expensive alternative.

Researchers at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center said their discovery is vital in an era of skyrocketing healthcare costs.

"I think it's very important that the public consider cost, and that they ask their doctors if there are alternatives for them that are less expensive," said Dr. Alan Farney, an associate professor of surgery who led the study. "Why should we use one drug or intervention over another that is equally effective and a fraction of the cost?"

The scientists looked at the two most common drugs used for induction immunosuppression therapy with kidney and pancreas transplants -- alemtuzumab, a newer drug that costs about $1,000 per single-dose treatment and is marketed under the name Campath, and rabbit antithymocyte globulin, which costs about four times more for its multi-dose treatment than alemtuzumab, and is marketed under the name Thymoglobulin.

The study found both drugs destroy the cells that cause organ rejection during induction immunosuppression therapy -- a short-term, early treatment meant to rapidly lower the immune system to prevent rejection until the patient begins taking daily drugs to suppress the immune system.

The research was detailed in a recent edition of the journal Transplantation.