Compare
Side by side
Pick up to three peptides to see how their mechanisms, studied uses and evidence levels differ. Rows where the entries disagree are marked with a blue edge.
Selected 1 of 3
Comparison
Ecallantide
Immune
Evidence level
Moderate evidence
Approval status
Approved drug
Mechanism of action
- 1.Binds and inhibits plasma kallikrein.
- 2.Blocks the release of bradykinin from high-molecular-weight kininogen.
- 3.Removes the vasodilatation and capillary leakage that drive swelling.
- 4.Works upstream of the bradykinin receptor, unlike icatibant.
- 5.Half-life of about two hours, so repeat dosing may be needed.
Studied for
- Acute hereditary angioedema attacks (EDEMA3 and EDEMA4)
- Attacks affecting the larynx
- Comparisons with C1 inhibitor concentrate
Reported effects
- Median time to meaningful symptom improvement of roughly 2 hours in EDEMA4
- Significant improvement in composite symptom scores versus placebo
- Anaphylaxis risk of a few percent, which dictates the supervision requirement
Side effects
- Anaphylaxis, including in patients without prior exposure
- Headache
- Nausea and diarrhoea
- Injection-site reactions
- Fever
- Rare antibody formation
Research protocol
Research context only - a supervised clinical treatment. Licensed dosing is 30 mg subcutaneously, given as three 10 mg injections, with a further 30 mg possible within 24 hours if the attack recurs; patients are observed for anaphylaxis for at least an hour, and the EDEMA trials measured a composite symptom score change over 4 hours.
Research context only
Evidence justification
Two randomised controlled trials of moderate size, one of which met its primary endpoint and one of which did not, plus a real anaphylaxis signal.