SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—Current trends in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy are the increased use of newer medication categories, such as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors (Jakinibs) and biologics, and the rising costs of treatment. Unchanged is the consistent use of methotrexate as an effective therapy. These topics and more were discussed at the ACR Winter Symposium during…
Two new studies delving into the relative safety of biologic drugs prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have concluded that real-world applications of abatacept and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi’s) are comparable to more conventional therapies in their associated risk of serious infections. Triple Therapy One study, in Arthritis Care & Research, found the risk of…
(Reuters)—The malaria treatment repeatedly championed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a game changer in the fight against the novel coronavirus has again failed to show a benefit in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a recent study. Although the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine had certain limitations, doctors report that…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Treatment with the interleukin-1 blocker anakinra appears to improve respiratory symptoms and reduced signs of cytokine storm in nearly three-quarters of patients with acute respiratory distress and cytokine release syndrome from COVID-19 in a small retrospective study from Italy. “Our study is the first to suggest that a high dose of the…
Baricitinib, an oral JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor approved to treat RA in adults, is being investigated as a possible treatment for hospitalized patients with COVID-19…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Potentially dangerous prolongation of the QT interval is common among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who receive hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) with or without concomitant azithromycin, according to two new studies. “This is a well-known problem with HCQ and azithromycin, which became amplified in this higher risk population,” Christina F. Yen, MD, from Beth Israel…
The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is disrupting patient care all over the world. In the U.S., many providers have had to adapt to new social distancing measures to care for patients, but struggles remain. Mark J. Sinnett, PharmD, FASHP, director of clinical and educational pharmacy services and director of the Center for Pharmacotherapy Research…
(Reuters)—A key U.S. government trial of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental coronavirus treatment may yield results as early as mid-May, according to the study’s lead investigator, after doctors clamored to enroll their patients in the study. Preliminary findings from the randomized trial of the antiviral drug remdesivir, begun in February by the National Institute of Allergy…
(Reuters)—On April 27, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA said on Monday that their arthritis drug sarilumab (Kevzara) may only help the sickest patients with COVID-19, dampening hopes that the therapy could potentially reach a larger pool of patients with the disease. The drugmakers said they would test high doses of sarilumab only in critically…
(Reuters)—On April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautioned against the use of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in COVID-19 patients even as President Donald Trump, who has touted it as a “game changer,” advocated for an additional review. The drug, first approved in 1955, provided no benefit and potentially higher risk of death for…