Maria Alice Willrich, Ph.D., Discusses Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies

By Molly Dee • March 4, 2019

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Maria Alice Willrich, Ph.D. was featured in an article in 360Dx discussing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (t-mAbs).

In the article, Dr. Willrich explains that recent changes in physician behavior around monitoring patient response to t-mAbs is driving demand for clinical testing of these drugs. This demand will continue to grow as new t-mAbs come to market and doctors continue to explore more customized dosing regimens.

"These are the most sold biologics in the world, so there are a lot of people taking these drugs, and it's not uncommon that after one or two years on the drugs, [patients] start losing their response to therapy," Dr. Willrich says.

She also talks about "proactive monitoring," in which some physicians try to use patient t-mAb levels to assess future outcomes.

"When we started in 2015 with our first test for infliximab, we would typically see maybe one or two test orders per patient, and then frequently that patient would be moved on to a different drug," she says.

With proactive monitoring, though, doctors are using serial testing to patient t-mAb levels with the goal of improving effectiveness.

Mayo currently offers tests for infliximab, adalimumab, vedolizumab (a TNFα inhibitor sold by Millenium Pharmaceutical as Entyvio), and eculizumab.

Read the full article.

Molly Dee

Molly Larsen is the Web Content Coordinator at Mayo ClinicLaboratories. She is responsible for internal and external communications pertaining to the website and information technology, as well as editing content on MayoClinicLabs.com. She has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2015. Outside of work, Molly enjoys working out, reading, Harry Potter trivia, and spending time with her family and friends, including Seamus, the labrador/mastiff puppy.