Can Plegridy be administered safely IM?

Question:
I have been on Avonex for more than 11 years (03/2004 – 12/2015) and it has been very successful. Because of my insurance, I had to switch to Plegridy in 01/2016 and, as many people, I am since experiencing the redness and rash on injection sites, since I had to switch from intramuscular to subcutaneous. The attempts to go back to Avonex have not been successful with the insurance company.

My neurologist confirmed that Plegridy has been developed also for intramuscular but has then been marketed only for subcutaneous, due to Biogen’s market research prior to the launch. He is claiming that I could use the subcutaneous Plegridy with a longer needle to inject it intramuscular and avoid the injection-site reactions. I could not find any literature supporting this claim and my understanding is that while the active ingredient is the same, the dosage and the non-active ingredients are designed for subcutaneous injection and not intramuscular. Assuming the needle can be changed prior to the injection (Plegridy also exists in pre-filled syringes) for intramuscular injection, how can I be sure that I can inject safely the subcutaneous formula by intramuscular? Can you please give me your opinion? I don’t want to trust blindly. Thank you.

Answer:
We are still waiting to hear from the Biogen clinical team as to whether Plegridy can be administered safely IM. We will provide a response if and when we hear back from them.

Revere (Rip) Kinkel MD
Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program
Director of Hillcrest Neurology
Professor of Clinical Neurosciences
University of California San Diego
​#Plegridy #intramuscular #multiplesclerosis