In a global Phase 3 trial, subcutaneous secukinumab proved safe and effective in patients with psoriatic arthritis. Also, a version of aspartyl-alanyl diketopiperazine, a biologic for knee OA, has entered Phase 3 trials…
A recent study showed ustekinumab can be used to treat teens with moderate to severe psoriasis. Also, Phase 2 trials for an analgesic combination drug show it holds promise for reducing post-operative pain…
ZURICH (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Novartis unit Sandoz’s regulatory submission for approval of a biosimilar copy of Amgen’s blockbuster anti-TNF drug Enbrel, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday. Enbrel, or etanercept as the drug is known generically, is a big prize since it was the world’s fifth-biggest selling medicine in 2014…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Certain rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients doing well on etanercept and methotrexate may be able to quit the latter agent if they have tolerability problems, according to an open-label Canadian study. In a Sept. 11 online paper in Rheumatology, Dr. Boulos Haraoui, of the University of Montreal, and colleagues noted that although combination…
The FDA has approved new labeling for infused golimumab to include measures of mental and physical health. Plus romosozumab meets primary endpoints in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis during a Phase 3 trial…
Guselkumab Studied to Treat RA & Plaque Psoriasis Guselkumab (GUS) is a subcutaneously administered monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin (IL) 23.1 It is being investigated in a Phase 2 study to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (PsA). On June 11, 2015, at the 2015 meeting of the European League Against…
Comparing tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and cyclophosphamide, tacrolimus was the most efficacious. Also, biosimilars may soon be easier to differentiate…
LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters)—Novartis kicked off a new era in U.S. medicine on Thursday with the launch of the first biosimilar copy of a biotechnology drug approved in the U.S., at a discount of 15% to the original. The Swiss drugmaker’s generics unit Sandoz said Zarxio, its form of Amgen’s white blood cell-boosting product Neupogen (filgrastim), would…
The FDA has fast-tracked the development of a drug to treat systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma; initial clinical trials started in June. Also, a major hospital group in France has selected the biosimilar infliximab to treat its patients with RA, Crohn’s disease and psoriasis…