biology

Secukinumab

Secukinumab is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Secukinumab rather than just read about it. In short: Secukinumab, sold under the brand name Cosentyx among others, is a human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. It binds to the protein interleukin (IL)-17A and is marketed by Novartis.

Key takeaways

Secukinumab belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Secukinumab to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Secukinumab from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Secukinumab, sold under the brand name Cosentyx among others, is a human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. It binds to the protein interleukin (IL)-17A and is marketed by Novartis.

Medical uses Secukinumab is used to treat psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. It is given by subcutaneous injection and is sold in a pre-filled syringe or autoinjector that can be used at home and as a lyophilized powder for use in hospitals and clinics. In October 2023, the FDA approved an intravenous variant of secukinumab. Secukinumab was not tested in pregnant women; animal studies did not show harm at relevant doses. The US Food and Drug Administration advises that the drug should be used in pregnant women only if the risk to the fetus is justified by the potential benefit; the European Medicines Agency (EMA) advises that women should not become pregnant while taking it. In the European Union, secukinumab is indicated for the treatment of:

moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults, children and adolescents from the age of six years who are candidates for systemic therapy. active psoriatic arthritis in adults, alone or in combination with methotrexate (MTX), when the response to previous disease modifying anti rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy has been inadequate. active ankylosing spondylitis in adults who have responded inadequately to conventional therapy. active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis with objective signs of inflammation as indicated by elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence in adults who have responded inadequately to non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). active moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa in adults with an inadequate response to conventional systemic HS therapy. active enthesitis-related arthritis in patients 6 years and older whose disease has responded inadequately to, or who cannot tolerate, conventional therapy. active juvenile psoriatic arthritis in patients 6 years and older whose disease has responded inadequately to, or who cannot tolerate, conventional therapy.

Adverse effects Very common (greater than 10% of people experience them) adverse effects include upper respiratory tract infections. Common (between 1% and 10% of people experience them) include oral herpes, runny nose, and diarrhea. Injection site reactions are common, occurring in approximately 1.9% of cases. In clinical trials there were rare instances of hypersensitivity reactions, severe infections, and some cases of serious inflammatory bowel disease, some of which were new and some of which were exacerbations of existing conditions. Caution should be used when starting secukinumab in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, and patients being treated with secukinumab should be monitored for signs and symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease.

Pharmacology Secukinumab inhibits a member of the cytokine family, interleukin 17A, which is produced mainly by inflammatory T helper 17 cells. IL17A is upregulated in serum of people with psoriasis and in the synovial fluid of people with psoriatic arthritis, and promotes inflammation when it binds to the interleukin-17 receptor which is expressed in various types of cells, including keratinocytes in skin. It is mostly eliminated by being taken up into cells via endocytosis and being broken down inside them.

Chemistry Secukinumab is a recombinant fully human IgG1/kappa monoclonal antibody and is manufactured in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

History Secukinumab was discovered and developed by Novartis using developmental name AIN457, and the first publication was a Phase I trial published in 2010. In January 2015, secukinumab was approved in the United States and in the European Union to treat adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. It is the first IL17A inhibiting drug ever approved. In January 2016, the FDA approved it to treat adults with ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis and in February 2018, a label update was approved to include the treatment for moderate-to-severe scalp psoriasis.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Secukinumab

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Secukinumab claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Secukinumab before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Secukinumab ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Secukinumab

In research: Secukinumab appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Secukinumab in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Secukinumab is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, Drugs developed by Novartis, Immunosuppressants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Secukinumab outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Secukinumab” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Secukinumab in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Secukinumab means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Secukinumab out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Secukinumab in simple terms?

Why does Secukinumab matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Secukinumab?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Secukinumab.