CHICAGO—With the approval of the Jak inhibitors (i.e., jakinibs) tofacitinib and ruxolitinib—and others being investigated—rheumatologists need to arm themselves with an understanding of these drugs so they can think critically when evaluating them and deciding how to use them, said John O’Shea, MD, chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch of and scientific director…
PSOLAR, the Psoriasis Longitudinal Assessment and Registry, is a multicenter, longitudinal, intercontinental, disease-based registry used to identify adverse events from commonly used psoriasis drugs.1 An evaluation of the risk of serious infection from systemic psoriasis treatments was recently published using data from PSOLAR. Ninety-three institutional review boards or ethics committees reported into the registry from…
In a Phase 2 study, researchers found that rontalizumab was a more effective treatment in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who had an interferon signature metric score lower than 1.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Dose optimization of infliximab is needed much earlier in ulcerative colitis than in Crohn’s disease, a single-center retrospective study reveals. “We compared the rates of dose increases over a fairly lengthy period of time,” said Dr. Mark Silverberg, the study’s senior author from the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. “Patients with ulcerative…
A recent British study concluded that determining a rheumatoid arthritis patient’s personal beliefs about medication could aid rheumatologists in regularly addressing medication adherence during visits.
LONDON/MUMBAI (Reuters)—Another Indian clinical research organization, Quest Life Sciences of Chennai, is in trouble over defective trials work, according to a warning issued by the World Health Organization. The action by the United Nations health agency follows an earlier scandal over drug testing at GVK Biosciences, which resulted in approvals for hundreds of generic drugs…
At the 2015 meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism in June, multiple studies were presented comparing the use of different biosimilar and biologic drugs in treating rheumatoid arthritis…
LONDON (Reuters)—Wholesalers trading medicines across European borders have criticized a suggestion by manufacturers that Greek exports should be restricted to prevent shortages of life-saving drugs in the country. Such trade, which allows traders to buy products in low-cost markets and sell them where prices are higher, is allowed under EU free trade rules. But drugmakers…
In a Phase 2 study, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of guselkumab to alleviate symptoms in patients with active RA suffering from tender and swollen joints.
BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters)—Drugmakers said on Monday they would continue to ship medicines to Greece in coming weeks, despite mounting unpaid bills, but warned supplies could be in jeopardy if Europe did not take emergency action. “In the worst-case scenario of ‘Grexit’, we believe the integrity of the medicines supply chain may be in jeopardy, which…