INTRON® A







		The Importance of Treatment
		PEG-INTRON®/REBETOL® Combination Therapy
		PEG-INTRON® Monotherapy
		INTRON® A
		REBETRON® Combination Therapy
		REBETOL®

INTRON® A
(Interferon alfa-2b, recombinant) for Injection Therapy

See also:

INTRON® A is a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating chronic hepatitis B and C.

Interferon is a protein made naturally by your body to boost your immunity and regulate other cell functions. INTRON® A, a manufactured form of interferon, works by stimulating your immune system to fight the viral infection and by inhibiting the ability of the viruses to divide and reproduce.

There are different forms of interferon, just as there are different forms of pain relievers like aspirin or ibuprofen. INTRON® A is the only interferon approved for the treatment of both chronic hepatitis B and C. It can completely eliminate chronic hepatitis B infections in some people. In people with chronic hepatitis C, INTRON A is used primarily in combination with REBETOL®. For more information, see REBETRON® Combination Therapy.

There are side effects associated with INTRON A therapy that you should understand. For more information, see Side Effects of INTRON® A .

Important Safety Information

WARNING

Alpha interferons, including INTRON® A, cause or aggravate fatal or life-threatening neuropsychiatric, autoimmune, ischemic, and infectious disorders. Patients should be monitored closely with periodic clinical and laboratory evaluations. Patients with persistently severe or worsening signs or symptoms of these conditions should be withdrawn from therapy. In many but not all cases these disorders resolve after stopping INTRON A therapy.

All patients receiving INTRON A therapy experienced mild-to-moderate side effects. Some patients experienced more severe side effects, including neutropenia, fatigue, myalgia, headache, fever, chills, and increased SGOT. Other frequently occurring side effects were nausea, vomiting, depression, alopecia, diarrhea, and thrombocytopenia. DEPRESSION AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR, INCLUDING SUICIDAL IDEATION, SUICIDAL ATTEMPTS, AND COMPLETED SUICIDES, HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH TREATMENT WITH ALFA INTERFERONS, INCLUDING INTRON A THERAPY.