NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—After starting biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patients with higher disease activity at baseline achieved greater improvements in measures of disease activity than those with lower levels of disease, but they were less likely to achieve remission or even low disease activity, according to a new real world analysis of registry data….
LONDON (Reuters)—European drugmakers, faced with increasing competition from cut-price copies of complex biotech drugs, cautioned doctors on Thursday to take care when switching patients from an established product to biosimilar version. The complex nature of biological medicines, which are made inside living cells, means copies can never be exactly the same as the original. But…
Brodalumab has received FDA approval for treating plaque psoriasis in adults, with a Boxed Warning against prescribing it for patients with a history of suicidal thoughts or behavior…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Immunosuppressive therapy with infliximab (Remicade) for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in pediatric patients is not associated with increased risk of malignancy or hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), according to a Janssen study. Dr. Jeffrey S. Hyams, who worked on the study, calls the finding “reassuring.” He adds in an email to Reuters Health, “our…
Patient Safety & Site of Service for Biologics Although emphasizing its strong support for the use of biologic agents as necessary treatments for rheumatic diseases, the ACR Board of Directors continues to be concerned about the safe delivery of these agents, given the potential for associated adverse events and infusion reactions. In a position statement…
(Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s brodalumab (Siliq) to treat adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Brodalumab is administered as an injection. Brodalumab is intended for patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy and have failed to respond, or have stopped responding to other systemic therapies,…