(Reuters)—Abbvie Inc. says its experimental drug met the main goal of halting progression of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a late-stage trial. The drug, upadacitinib, was tested as a monotherapy in patients who have not been treated with chemotherapy agent methotrexate. Upadacitinib, which belongs to a class of drugs known as JAK inhibitors,…

Upadacitinib Proves Superiority to Adalimumab in Phase 3 RA Study
Initial results from an ongoing trial show that upadacitinib outperforms adalimumab in achieving ACR20 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis…

Upadacitinib Receives Breakthrough Designation, Abatacept Use Expands in Australia & More
The FDA has designated upadacitinib a breakthrough therapy to treat adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis…

Upadacitinib Promising for RA in Phase 3 Study
In a recent study, upadacitinib proved safe and effective to treat rheumatoid arthritis in patients with inadequate responses to conventional synthetic DMARDs…

Rheumatology Drug Updates: Opana ER Painkiller Pulled from U.S. Market; Upadacitinib to Treat RA, and More
Opana ER Pulled from U.S. Market Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked Endo Pharmaceuticals to remove oxymorphone hydrochloride extended release (Opana ER) from the U.S. market due to public health consequences related to abuse. The agency has concerns that the risks presented by the treatment do not outweigh its benefits.1 On…

Upadacitinib Meets Study Endpoints to Treat RA
A recent clinical trial found that upadacitinib may effectively reduce disease activity at Week 12 for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis…
AbbVie’s Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Succeeds in Late-Stage Trial
(Reuters)—U.S. drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Wednesday late-stage data showed its rheumatoid arthritis drug performed better than a placebo in reducing symptoms in moderate-to-severe patients who have not adequately responded to standard treatments. Two doses of the drug, upadacitinib, induced a statistically significant reduction in symptoms compared to a placebo in the 12-week long study,…