Ongoing ACR advocacy efforts are working to keep biologic drugs accessible to rheumatology patients, defending the ability of rheumatology practices to use the complex chemotherapy codes for administration of biologic therapies.
The Ins & Outs of Patient Assistance Programs
Although effective against rheumatic disease, biologic therapies come with hefty price tags. Patient assistance programs can be a useful resource to help under- and uninsured patients get the drugs they need.
More Data for Treat to Target: Post-Hoc Analysis of Large RA Clinical Trials Supports Treat-to-Target Recommendations
A post-hoc analysis of data from two large clinical trials supports treat-to-target recommendations for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The research found baseline disease activity was the strongest predictor of a patient’s insufficient response to initial therapy at six months…
When Starting Biologics for RA, Disease Severity Predicts Likelihood of Remission
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—After starting biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patients with higher disease activity at baseline achieved greater improvements in measures of disease activity than those with lower levels of disease, but they were less likely to achieve remission or even low disease activity, according to a new real world analysis of registry data….
Factors that Influence Biologic Therapy Choices for Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Recent research analyzed factors influencing the selection of the first-line biologic medications and the real-life factors that lead to switching from those medications to other biologics in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study compared the use of abatacept and tocilizumab with a tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor (TNFi).1,2 Participants were enrolled in the Lombardy Rheumatology…
New Large-Vessel Vasculitis Therapies Emerge, but Better Options Still Needed
LONDON—New therapies are emerging for the two main forms of large-vessel vasculitis, giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu’s arteritis—particularly biologic therapies. But for just about every available treatment gap, drawbacks or limited evidence remain, with the results needing to be borne out in larger trials, an expert said at the Annual Congress of the European…