Treating anemia in chronic IL-6 associated diseases using anti-IL-6 antibodies

1. A method of treating or inhibiting anemia in an individual with a chronic disease wherein interleukin-6 (“IL-6”) is elevated, comprising:

(i) administering to an individual who has a chronic disease associated with elevated IL-6, and which individual further has been diagnosed as having anemia or reduced hemoglobin levels prior to treatment, an effective amount of an anti-human IL-6 antibody or antigen-binding fragment comprising a variable light polypeptide comprising the complementarity regions (CDR's) of SEQ ID NO:4, 5 and 6 and a variable heavy polypeptide comprising the complementarity regions (CDR's) of SEQ ID NO:7, 8 or 120 and 9.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein administration of said anti-human IL-6 antibody or antigen-binding fragment results in clinical improvement in the individual's anemia.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment is a human, humanized or chimeric anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment contains a human Fc region.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment is of the IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 or IgG4 isotype.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment is of the IgG1 isotype.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment is aglyclosylated.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment contains an Fc region that has been modified to alter effector function, half-life, proteolysis, and/or glycosylation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment binds to IL-6 with a dissociation constant (K D ) of less than or equal to 5×10 −7 M −1 , 10 −7 M −1 , 5×10 −8 M −1 , 10 −8 M −1 , 5×10 −9 M −1 , 10 −9 M −1 , 5×10 −10 M −1 , 10 −10 M −1 , 5×10 −11 M −1 , 10 −11 M −1 , 5×10 −12 M −1 , 10 −12 M −1 , 5×10 −13 M −1 , or 10 −13 M −1 .

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment binds to IL-6 with a dissociation constant (K D ) of less than or equal to 5×10 −11 M −1 .

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment binds to IL-6 with a dissociation constant (K D ) of less than or equal to 5×10 −12 M −1 .

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment is a humanized antibody or antibody fragment.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment is a Fab, F(ab′) 2 , Fv or scFv, camelbody, nanobody, or an IgNAR.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment binds to IL-6 with a dissociation constant of less than or equal to 5×10 −10 M −1 .

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administered anti-human IL-6 antibody or fragment binds to IL-6 with an off-rate (K off ) of less than or equal to 10 −4 S −1 , 5×10 −5 S −1 , 10 −5 S −1 , 5×10 −6 S −1 , 10 −6 S −1 , 5×10 −7 S −1 , or 10 −7 S −1 .

16. The method of claim 1 , which includes monitoring IL-6 and hemoglobin levels after antibody treatment.

17. The method of claim 1 , comprising the further administration of another drug or therapy for treating anemia.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anti-IL-6 antibody or antibody fragment comprising said CDRs contains a variable heavy chain polypeptide identical to the polypeptide in SEQ ID NO:19 and a variable light chain identical to the polypeptide in SEQ ID NO:20.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein said antibody or antibody fragment further comprises the heavy constant and light constant sequences in SEQ ID NO:588 and SEQ ID NO:586.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the anti-IL-6 antibody further comprises the heavy constant and light constant sequences in SEQ ID NO:588 and SEQ ID NO:586.