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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Biologics/DMARDs

Biologic Drugs for Psoriasis Are Rarely Stopped for AEs

Joan Raymond  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Real-world psoriasis patients receiving biologic therapies rarely stop taking the drugs because of adverse effects, researchers say. Although data from long-term registries have shown similar results, “the demographics of patients in registries are somewhat different than those of patients in real-world practices,” Dr. Jensen Yeung told Reuters Health by email. “I have…

Clinical Trials Ongoing for Brodalumab

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Brodalumab, an interleukin (IL) 17 inhibitor, is currently in early clinical trials (Phase 1b and Phase 2) for a number of different autoimmune diseases.1 Amgen recently terminated its co-development and commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca for the brodalumab investigational program in trials for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis. Amgen’s decision to…

Antibodies to Remicade Cross-React with Biosimilar Remsima

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Antibodies to infliximab in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with Janssen’s Remicade cross-react with the biosimilar Remsima from Celltrion (distributed as Inflectra by Hospira in the U.S.), researchers from Israel report. “The cross-reactivity of anti-Remicade antibodies with Remsima attests to shared immune triggering points (epitopes) on these two agents, and…

Rising Costs of Biologics in the U.S. Suggest Need for Negotiation Ability

Rob Goodier (Reuters Health)  |  

The costs of some disease-modifying therapies outpace prescription drug inflation, saddling insured patients with thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket payments and delayed or denied coverage, two new studies have shown. Disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis are rising in cost five to seven times faster than inflation and cost more in the United States than in…

First Biosimilar Drugs Approved in U.S., Canada

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The first biosmilar products have been approved in the U.S. and Canada, following Europe’s early lead. Canada approved its first biosimilar monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy, known as Inflectra (infliximab), on March 30, 2015.1 In Canada, biosimilars are being called subsequent entry biologic (SEB) agents. Inflectra is approved for treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing…