Taliglucerase alfa
Regulatory sources consulted
Approved indications
- Treatment of patients aged 4 years and older with a confirmed diagnosis of type 1 Gaucher disease.
Clinical warnings
- Boxed warning · Boxed warning: life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, may occur; administer under supervision with resuscitation support available. — FDA ELELYSO prescribing information
Adverse events
Common (≥1%)
Hypersensitivity reactions · headache · abdominal pain · nausea · fatigue
Recent literature (PubMed)
Gaucher disease (GD) is a rare disorder linked to the absence/deficiency of glucocerebrosidase. GD can be treated by enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and substrate reduction therapy (SRT). The aim of this systematic review (SR) is to assess the effectiveness of drugs used for GD treatment. Searches were conducted in PubMed and Scopus, in April 2021. The search strategies encompassed the name of the disease and of the drug treatments. Manual search was also conducted. Observational and interventional longitudinal studies evaluating ERT and SRT for GD were included. Single mean meta-analyses were conducted for each drug using R. The initial search retrieved 2246 articles after duplicates were removed. Following screening and eligibility assessment, 68 reports were included. The studies evaluated imiglucerase, velaglucerase alfa, taliglucerase alfa, miglustat, and eliglustat. The results showed that ERT is effective as a treatment in both naïve and experienced patients. Miglustat did not significantly improve blood outcomes in naïve patients and resulted in a decrease in the platelet levels of experienced patients. Eliglustat was mainly assessed for experienced patients and resulted in stable outcome values. This extensive SR confirms the effectiveness of GD treatments in short- and long-term follow-ups. The results were favorable for all ERTs and for eliglustat. Based on the assessed evidence, miglustat did not achieved expressive results. However, all evidence should be interpreted considering its limitations and does not replace well-conducted randomized trials.
The prevalence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in its second year has led to massive global human and economic losses. The high transmission rate and the emergence of diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants demand rapid and effective approaches to preventing the spread, diagnosing on time, and treating affected people. Several COVID-19 vaccines are being developed using different production systems, including plants, which promises the production of cheap, safe, stable, and effective vaccines. The potential of a plant-based system for rapid production at a commercial scale and for a quick response to an infectious disease outbreak has been demonstrated by the marketing of carrot-cell-produced taliglucerase alfa (Elelyso) for Gaucher disease and tobacco-produced monoclonal antibodies (ZMapp) for the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Currently, two plant-based COVID-19 vaccine candidates, coronavirus virus-like particle (CoVLP) and Kentucky Bioprocessing (KBP)-201, are in clinical trials, and many more are in the preclinical stage. Interim phase 2 clinical trial results have revealed the high safety and efficacy of the CoVLP vaccine, with 10 times more neutralizing antibody responses compared to those present in a convalescent patient's plasma. The clinical trial of the CoVLP vaccine could be concluded by the end of 2021, and the vaccine could be available for public immunization thereafter. This review encapsulates the efforts made in plant-based COVID-19 vaccine development, the strategies and technologies implemented, and the progress accomplished in clinical trials and preclinical studies so far.