Can Humira be used for UC in pediatric patients?

MommaMember

Are there any kids with UC diagnosis using Humira? We are hoping to start Humira next week. My son is diagnosed with UC. They thought it may have been Chrons, but none of the tests confirmed Chrons (biopsy, endoscopy, pillcam, MRI). He had allergic reaction to Remicade and also tested positive for antibodies. So on to Humira. Although I read that Humira is not approved for UC in pediatric patients. It is approved for Chrons in children, and UC in adults, but not UC in children. I don't know why. BTW- my son will be 18 in 2 months.

1/4/182:23 PM

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Jan DollarModerator, RN, retired

I don’t think your son would be considered pediatric in this case. UC was the more recently approved disease for treatment by Humira, and drugs are always approved for adult populations first, unless it is a pediatric specific drug. Pediatric populations are added later when more data is available. That said, Humira is approved for those as young as 2 with other diseases, so your son should be fine. The overal safety profile is similar to Remicade, minus the allergy issue, since there is no mouse protein. Anyway, once a drug is FDA approved, the prescribing physician can prescribe as he sees fit, regardless of which diseases it is approved for. This is “off label” prescribing. But in this case, I believe it is being prescribed for adult UC.

Jan