The use of biosimilars for rheumatology in the U.S. became a reality when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb), a biosimilar to Remicade (infliximab), in April. What this may mean is increased competition among drug companies with regard to pricing and, therefore, potentially lower costs for U.S. patients, according to Seoyoung…
Executing evidence-based medicine in the U.S. is challenging, especially utilizing high-cost medications in rheumatologic care. As patients trust their clinicians to be their medical experts, clinicians must trust their care team members to be experts at implementing the care plan. A clinician’s knowledge of human anatomy and physiology is the foundation to understanding pathophysiology. From…
(Reuters Health)—Many patients haven’t heard of biosimilars, generic versions of complex biotech drugs, and even some who say they’re familiar with these medicines may still be confused about them, a small European survey suggests.1 To see what patients know about biosimilars, researchers analyzed data from online surveys completed by 1,181 patients with irritable bowel disease…
ZURICH (Reuters)—Novartis has won U.S. approval for a copy of Amgen’s blockbuster arthritis drug Enbrel, but the Swiss drugmaker’s bid to muscle in on the medicine’s $4.7 billion in annual U.S. revenue remains blocked by court battles. Novartis’s Sandoz unit said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Erelzi, its biosimilar copy…
SAN FRANCISCO—Considerable progress has been made in the treatment and management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the past two decades, with rheumatologists now able to manage the effects of this chronic, debilitating condition for most of their patients, according to Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, director of the Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center (ARC) in the…
Looking for a reason to attend the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, which will be held Nov. 11–16 in Washington, D.C.? This monumental meeting will offer a variety of sessions on MACRA/MIPS/APMs, Medicare Value-Based Payment Reform programs, auditing, compliance and coding. Particularly, the pre-meeting workshops will provide you with the unique opportunity to dive deep into…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Biosimilar tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors appear equivalent to the branded original versions, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis. As Dr. G. Caleb Alexander tells Reuters Health by email, “biologic treatments represent a rapidly growing proportion of prescription drug expenditures and thus there is enormous interest in whether or not biosimilar products…
A majority of state legislatures have concluded their work for 2016. The ACR’s state advocacy efforts continued to focus on policy benefiting rheumatologists and patients alike. The two dominant issues this year were biosimilar substitution and step therapy. Biosimilar Substitution Biosimilar substitution remains the most prevalent issue throughout the states. The ACR continues to monitor…
(Reuters)—Amgen Inc.’s cheaper version of AbbVie’s top-selling arthritis drug adalimumab (Humira) is highly similar to the original and should be approved, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Tuesday. The panel voted 26–0 that the drug, ABP 501, which was studied in rheumatoid arthritis and plaque psoriasis, was similar in…
According to a new report, rheumatology remains one of the lowest-paid specialties in medicine—despite an average pay increase of 12% over the past year. And only 44% of rheumatologists would choose the field again. Anne Bass, MD, says administrative red tape and other factors contribute to the lack of satisfaction…