The present invention provides improved
Etanercept variants which comprise one (A105E), preferably two (A105E / L106F),
amino acid substitutions regarding the
Etanercept original
amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3. These variants inhibit TNF activity but fail to neutralize human LTα (hLTα). Thus, they are proposed herein as a great alternative to be used in the clinic for the treatment of autoimmune or inflammatory diseases in which an exacerbated TNF activity is involved, since they prevent the side effects associated to the use of the original
Etanercept molecule while retaining the TNF blocking activity.