Although rheumatologists prescribe tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi’s) to treat several rheumatic diseases, they recognize immunogenicity influences the efficacy and safety of TNFi’s. Example: The formation of anti-drug antibodies can affect infusion reactions and cause low-serum drug levels and therapeutic failure. The induction phase is a period of high incidence of immunogenicity, and observational data…
In a small study, patients with GCA maintained remission after receiving three days of treatment with methylprednisolone followed by tocilizumab.
In a study, Janus kinase inhibitors proved effective for patients with difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
(Reuters)—AbbVie Inc. and ELi Lilly & Co. are facing fresh delays in the approval of their respective rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drugs for treating the chronic skin disease eczema as the U.S. health regulator assesses the new class of treatment over safety concerns. The treatment, called Janus kinase inhibitors (jakinibs), blocks inflammation-causing enzymes known as Janus…
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention will consider evidence suggesting that a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines could increase protection among people with compromised immune systems. Data presented ahead of the July 22 meeting noted that people with compromised immune systems have a reduced antibody response following the recommended primary…
On July 9, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order designed to promote competition in the U.S. economy. The order includes 72 initiatives related to various aspects of the economy, including prescription drugs and health insurance.1 For prescription drugs, Americans pay more than 2.5 times as much for the same prescription drugs as patients…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Guselkumab may be effective in patients who have psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with axial symptoms, a post-hoc analysis of data from two randomized controlled trials suggests.1 “Because PsA is a heterogeneous disease that manifests as various symptoms, treatment choices should involve consideration of all relevant domains of disease for each individual patient,” researchers…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Tocilizumab induced a slow and lasting remission after an ultra-short pulse (three days) of steroids in newly diagnosed giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients, a proof-of-concept trial shows.1 His early research on cytokines and glucocorticoids led Peter Villiger, MD, of Medical Center Monbijou, Bern, Switzerland, to find ways to reduce steroid use, he…
Based on data from two phase 3 clinical trials, Health Canada has approved the use of upadacitinib to treat adults with active psoriatic arthritis.
In an efficacy and safety study of guselkumab, patients with active psoriatic arthritis taking guselkumab showed continued skin clearance and joint symptom relief, as well as statistically significant inhibition of joint damage, after two years.