DMARDs II drugs commonly end in which suffixes?

• A. -cept & -mab
• B. -tide & -cept
• C. -limb & -mab
• D. -gib & -mab

Answer: (A)

Biologic DMARDs are built as either monoclonal antibodies or as receptor fusion proteins. Monoclonal antibodies have names ending in -mab, signaling they’re antibodies designed to target specific immune molecules. Fusion proteins end in -cept, indicating a receptor-based construct that acts as a decoy to block inflammatory signaling. That’s why drugs like infliximab, adalimumab, and rituximab carry -mab, while etanercept and abatacept carry -cept. The suffixes -tide, -limb, or -gib point to different kinds of therapeutics and don’t consistently denote these biologic DMARDs, so they aren’t the typical endings for this class. Recognizing -mab and -cept helps you quickly identify biologic DMARDs and their mechanism.