Rasburicase

Rasburicase
Clinical data
Trade namesElitek, Fasturtec
AHFS/Drugs.comMonograph
License data
Pregnancy
category
  • AU: B2
Routes of
administration		Intravenous infusion
ATC code
Legal status
Legal status
  • AU: S4 (Prescription only)
  • US: WARNING[1]Rx-only
  • EU: Rx-only[2]
  • In general: ℞ (Prescription only)
Pharmacokinetic data
BioavailabilityN/A
Elimination half-life18 hrs
Identifiers
  • Aspergillus urate oxidase
CAS Number
IUPHAR/BPS
DrugBank
ChemSpider
  • none
UNII
KEGG
ChEMBL
ECHA InfoCard100.207.686 Edit this at Wikidata
Chemical and physical data
FormulaC1521H2381N417O461S7
Molar mass34109.66 g·mol−1
 ☒NcheckY (what is this?)  (verify)

Rasburicase, sold under the brand name Elitek in the US and Fasturtec in the EU, is a medication that helps to clear uric acid from the blood. It is a recombinant version of urate oxidase, an enzyme that metabolizes uric acid to allantoin. Urate oxidase is known to be present in many mammals but does not naturally occur in humans.[3] Rasburicase is produced by a genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. The complementary DNA (cDNA) coding for rasburicase was cloned from a strain of Aspergillus flavus.[3]

Rasburicase (Q00511) is a tetrameric protein with identical subunits. Each subunit is made up of a single 301 amino acid polypeptide chain with a molecular mass of about 34 kDa. The drug product is a sterile, white to off-white, lyophilized powder intended for intravenous administration following reconstitution with a diluent. Elitek (rasburicase) is supplied in 3 mL and 10 mL colorless, glass vials containing rasburicase at a concentration of 1.5 mg/mL after reconstitution.[4]

It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[5]

  1. ^ "FDA-sourced list of all drugs with black box warnings (Use Download Full Results and View Query links.)". nctr-crs.fda.gov. FDA. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Fasturtec EPAR". European Medicines Agency (EMA). 23 February 2001. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b Wilson FP, Berns JS (October 2012). "Onco-nephrology: tumor lysis syndrome". Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 7 (10): 1730–1739. doi:10.2215/CJN.03150312. PMID 22879434.
  4. ^ "Elitek (rasburicase)". Rxlist.
  5. ^ World Health Organization (2021). World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 22nd list (2021). Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/345533. WHO/MHP/HPS/EML/2021.02.