What is "pegfilgrastim"

n. A PEGylated form of filgrastim.

Pegfilgrastim is a PEGylated form of the recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) analog filgrastim. It serves to stimulate the level of white blood cells ( neutrophils).

Pegfilgrastim treatment can be used to stimulate bone marrow to produce more neutrophils to fight infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Pegfilgrastim has a human half-life of 15 to 80 hours, much longer than the parent filgrastim (3–4 hours).

In the United States as of 2015 the branded for[m] costs between 5,327 and 8,191 USD a dose.