Brodalumab, an interleukin (IL) 17 inhibitor, is currently in early clinical trials (Phase 1b and Phase 2) for a number of different autoimmune diseases.1 Amgen recently terminated its co-development and commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca for the brodalumab investigational program in trials for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis. Amgen’s decision to…
According to a new study, patients with RA experiencing weight loss unrelated to exercise may be at risk of premature death.
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for elderly and disabled Americans, paid physicians $90 billion in 2013, up 17% from $77 billion in 2012, U.S. healthcare officials reported on Monday. Physician payments accounted for less than one-fifth of Medicare’s 2013 net outlays of $492 billion, which rose from $466 billion in 2012. Payments to…
(Reuters)—Patients in Texas can continue to receive remote diagnoses and treatment after telemedicine company Teladoc Inc won a preliminary court order blocking a new state rule requiring doctors to meet patients first. The ruling in Austin federal court on Friday came the same day that Teladoc filed its public registration with the U.S. Securities and…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Volleyball players with patellar tendinopathy reported an immediate easing of their pain after isometric exercise, and the effect persisted for 45 minutes after the intervention, a new study has found. In contrast, isotonic exercise appeared to diminish the athletes’ pain to a lesser degree, and the effect did not last at the…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A number of recent studies support last year’s update of 2010 treat-to-target recommendations for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to the international task force that revised them. Dr. Josef S. Smolen from Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and colleagues updated their 2010 advice based on systematic literature reviews and expert opinion. They left…
The high out-of-pocket costs of biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) place “enormous financial strain” on Medicare beneficiaries and may limit therapy adherence, according to the lead author of a national investigation into Part D coverage and cost-sharing structures. Recently published online in Arthritis & Rheumatology, the study analyzed 2,737 Part D plan formularies for…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Antibodies to infliximab in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with Janssen’s Remicade cross-react with the biosimilar Remsima from Celltrion (distributed as Inflectra by Hospira in the U.S.), researchers from Israel report. “The cross-reactivity of anti-Remicade antibodies with Remsima attests to shared immune triggering points (epitopes) on these two agents, and…
LONDON (Reuters)—AstraZeneca’s hopes of topping $45 billion in revenue by 2023 have been dealt a blow by a problem with an experimental psoriasis drug that the drugmaker had viewed as a potential billion-dollar plus seller. Amgen, its partner on the project, announced late on Friday it was ending a collaboration to develop brodalumab after suicidal…
Lyme disease is often considered a cause of chronic fatigue, pain and other incapacitating symptoms. This assumption stems from analyses of patients who seek retreatment for Lyme disease. However, a new study suggests that Lyme disease is not life altering in the long term for most patients. Specifically, patients with culture-confirmed Lyme disease have similar…