What are the side effects of Ilumya?

The most common side effects of Ilumya are:

• upper respiratory infections (14% Ilumya vs. 12% placebo),
• injection site reactions (3% Ilumya vs. 2% placebo), and
• diarrhea (2% Ilumya vs. 1% placebo).

Upper respiratory infections include nasopharyngitis (common cold), upper respiratory tract infection, viral upper respiratory tract infection, and pharyngitis. Injection site reactions may involve itching, pain, redness, swelling, bruising, hematoma (a solid blood clot under the skin), and bleeding.

Ilumya may also cause serious side effects such as allergic reactions with angioedema (swelling in the lower layers of the skin, often in the face, tongue, throat, arms, or legs), urticaria (hives), and infections.

Before starting Ilumya, patients should be evaluated for tuberculosis. If a person has latent tuberculosis, treatment for tuberculosis should be initiated before Ilumya is started in patients with a history of latent or active tuberculosis in whom an adequate course of treatment cannot be confirmed. Anybody with a prior history of TB should be monitored closely for signs and symptoms of active tuberculosis during and after treatment. In clinical trials, the difference in frequency of infections between the Ilumya group and the placebo group was less than 1%. Take into consideration the infection risk when planning for surgery.

There is also the potential for immunogenicity and antibody formation. Up to week 64, approximately 6.5% of people treated with Ilumya developed antibodies to it; 40% of these antibodies were classified as neutralizing.

In March 2018, the FDA approved Ilumya (tildrakizumab-asmn), a humanized interleukin-23 p19 subunit antagonist (anti-IL-23p19) monoclonal antibody for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic treatment or phototherapy (ultraviolet or UV light).

Before starting treatment with Ilumya, ensure all patients have received all their appropriate immunizations for their age as recommended by National guidelines. It is important people administered Ilumya DO NOT receive live vaccines.

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