Mycophenolate mofetil, Cellcept (R), a new immunosuppressive drug with great potential in internal medicine

Mycophenolate mofetil is a new immunosupressive drug, exhibiting its effect through inhibition of proliferation of T- and B-lymphocytes. Superior effi cacy of mycophenolate mofetil compared to azathioprine, in combination with cyclosporine and prednisone, in the prevention of acute rejection in organ transplantation has made mycophenolate mofetil one of the standard immunos upressive drugs after transplantation. Mycophenolate mofetil also is an int eresting candidate drug for many other, mainly auto-immune mediated disease s. The use of mycophenolate mofetil in several of these diseases is discuss ed. The definitive place of mycophenolate mofetil will depend on the result s of randomised trials currently under way. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.