Description
Pegylation is a process of attaching the strands of the polymer PEG to molecules most typically peptides, proteins, and antibody fragments, that can help to meet the challenges of improving the safety and efficiency of many therapeutics. Pegylation, by increasing the molecular weight of a molecule, can impart several significant pharmacological advantages over the unmodified form, such as: improved drug solubility, reduced dosage frequency without diminished efficacy with potentially reduced toxicity, extended circulating life, increased drug stability and enhanced protection from proteolytic degradation.
Pegfilgrastim is a covalent conjugate of recombinant methionyl human G-CSF (Filgrastim) and monomethoxypolyethylene glycol. Filgrastim itself is a water-soluble 175 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of approximately 19 kilodaltons (kD) and is obtained from the bacterial fermentation of a strain of Escherichia coli transformed with a genetically engineered plasmid containing the human G-CSF gene. To produce pegfilgrastim, a 20 kD monomethoxypolyethylene glycol molecule is covalently bound to the N-terminal methionyl residue of Filgrastim. The average molecular weight of pegfilgrastim is approximately 39 kD.

Indications
· Febrile neutropenia
· Leukopenia