Cats with joint pain could be in luck. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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Antibody treatments aren’t just for humans.
The US Food and Drug Administration this month approved a monoclonal antibody treatment for cats. It is the first such treatment approved by the FDA for treating any type of non-human animal. One monoclonal antibody treatment for dogs was previously made available to the public after approval by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Monoclonal antibodies have made headlines over the past year for their use in the fight against COVID-19, but the new drug, named Solensia, is actually targeted at cat osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition where the cartilage in cats’ joints breaks down, which can lead to pain when the bones in the joint rub against each other.
Solensia is supposed to help kitties feel less pain.
How does it work?
Solensia will be administered as a monthly injection at veterinarian offices, according to Zoetis, the drug company that created it. It is expected to be available in the second half of 2022, but pricing hasn’t been set yet.
The drug contains a cat-specific antibody that binds to nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that mediates pain by binding to specific receptors in cats, explained Bruce Kornreich, director of the Cornell Feline Health Center. When the antibody binds to NGF, it prevents NGF from binding to these sensory receptors, decreasing the activation of other pathways that are involved in the perception of pain.
“The nice thing about using antibodies in therapeutics is that they target specific molecules in the body, rather than giving a drug that can affect cells in the body that are not involved in the disease process being treated,” said Kornreich. “Some people refer to them as silver bullets. Rather than shooting everything, the bullet brings the therapy specifically to one molecule in the body, in this case, it’s NGF.”
Kornreich said that cats are somewhat stoic creatures, so it can be difficult to detect signs of pain in them. A limitation of one of the FDA studies of the drug is that owners were asked to subjectively recognize pain in their cats, which can be challenging. In another study, though, cats were also evaluated by a veterinarian.
If it works as expected, the drug could be a real boon to cats. About 60-90 percent of cats show radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis, said Kornreich. Of those cats, about 45 percent have pain-related symptoms like jumping less or moving more slowly.
“We are starting to realize that the pain from feline osteoarthritis is much more of a problem than we realized previously in cats,” he said.
