Ocrevus Zunovo®

What is Ocrevus Zunovo®?

Ocrevus Zunovo® has the same MS medicine in it as Ocrevus. The difference is how you get it. Ocrevus goes into a vein through an IV. Ocrevus Zunovo is a shot given under the skin of your belly.

It treats the same two kinds of MS: relapsing MS and primary progressive MS.

The shot takes about 10 minutes. A nurse gives it to you here at our clinic — it is not something you do at home.

Here is what treatment looks like:

• Your dose: One shot in the belly, given over about 10 minutes

• How often: Every 6 months

• Total appointment time: About 2 hours for your first visit, and about 1 hour after that

You will take medicine at least 30 minutes before your shot to lower the chance of a reaction. A nurse will watch you for at least an hour after your first shot, and about 15 minutes after later ones. Reactions can also show up as late as a day afterward, so your care team will go over what to watch for at home.

How does Ocrevus Zunovo® work?

Ocrevus Zunovo works exactly the same way as Ocrevus. The medicine inside is the same. Only the delivery is different.

Your nerves are wrapped in a protective coating called myelin. In MS, your immune system attacks that coating by mistake, which slows down or blocks the signals moving between your brain and your body.

B cells are immune cells that help drive that attack. They carry a marker called CD20.

Here is what it does:

• Ocrevus Zunovo finds B cells. It attaches to the CD20 marker on their surface.

• It clears those cells out. Your immune system removes them from your blood.

• Swelling goes down. With fewer B cells, there is less swelling in your brain and spinal cord.

• A second ingredient helps it absorb. Hyaluronidase briefly loosens the tissue under your skin so the full dose can soak in.

In a study called OCARINA II, the amount of medicine that reached the blood was about the same as with the IV version. Safety and how well it worked were also about the same.

If you are already doing well on IV Ocrevus, switching is a change in how you get your treatment, not a change in the treatment itself. Your appointments get a lot shorter. Everything else stays the same.

Common side effects:

• Reactions at the spot where you got the shot, like redness, swelling, or soreness

• Reactions in the rest of your body, like headache, fever, or chills

• Colds and other infections in your nose, throat, or sinuses

• Chest infections

• Rash or itchy skin

Serious side effects — get medical help right away:

• Severe reactions to the shot. These can affect the injection site or your whole body, and they can show up as late as 24 hours afterward.

• Serious infections. This medicine lowers part of your immune system, so infections can be harder to fight off.

• Hepatitis B coming back. If you have had hepatitis B before, it can become active again. You will be tested for this before you start.

• PML. This is short for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. It is a rare but serious brain infection.

• Lower antibody levels. Over time, this can lower the antibodies that help you fight infection.

• Breast cancer. More cases of breast cancer showed up in people taking this medicine during studies than in people who were not.