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

Drug Updates

Subcategories:AnalgesicsBiologics/DMARDs

Making Sense of Drug Pricing Legislation

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A number of bills have been introduced in the 116th Congress to mitigate the impact of treatment and drug costs on U.S. patients. The ACR has reviewed the bills and supports those that most closely align with its positions on access to care.

Checkpoint Inhibitors May Be Retried after Immune Adverse Event, with Close Monitoring

Marilynn Larkin  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—After an immune-related adverse event, the risk-reward ratio for an anti-PD-1 (anti-programmed death-1) or anti-PD-L1 (anti-programmed death ligand-1) rechallenge seems to be acceptable if patients are closely monitored, researchers say. “The immune checkpoint inhibitors anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 have proven efficacy in the treatment of many cancers, but patients may experience immune-related adverse…

Upadacitinib Monotherapy Effective in Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis

Will Boggs MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Monotherapy with the JAK1-selective inhibitor upadacitinib is effective in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who have an inadequate response to methotrexate, according to results from the SELECT-MONOTHERAPY phase 3 trial. As many as two-thirds of patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving methotrexate monotherapy fail to achieve satisfactory disease control. Oral therapy with upadacitinib…

British Columbia Will Be First Canadian Province to Switch Patients to Biosimilars

Allison Martell & Allison Lampert  |  

TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters)—The Canadian province of British Columbia said on May 28 that its public drug plan will switch as many as 20,400 patients from three branded biologic drugs to cheap near-copies called biosimilars, saving an estimated C$96.6 million ($71.9 million) over three years. The new policy from the province’s PharmaCare program targets Johnson & Johnson’s…

WHO Drug Pricing Talks May Fail to End Secrecy, Activists Fear

Tom Miles  |  

GENEVA (Reuters)—Governments are working on a drug pricing transparency deal at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual assembly, but activists said on Thursday they fear crucial costs may be left out, enabling pharmaceutical firms to keep prices high. Campaigners say some drugs are exhorbitantly priced, even though they are often developed with public funding, and…

U.S. Supreme Court Tosses Ruling Against Merck on Fosamax Osteoporosis Drug

Andrew Chung  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—On May 20, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a lower court ruling that had revived hundreds of lawsuits accusing Merck & Co. of failing to properly warn patients of debilitating thigh-bone fractures as a result of taking its osteoporosis drug alendronic acid (Fosamax). The nine justices unanimously directed the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit…