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Monitoring of Novel Therapies in Rheumatology
The rheumatology therapeutic landscape has changed almost yearly in the last 15 years, with the introduction of at least 16 biologic or novel agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), spondyloarthritis (SpA), juvenile arthritis,
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Adalimumab FDA Approved for Hidradenitis Suppurativa
Abbvie announced on 9/10/15 that adalimumab (Humira) has been FDA approved for the treatment of moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and is now the first and only FDA-approved therapy for adults with HS.
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VEGF121-Fibrin as a Potential Therapy for Skin Ulcers in Systemic Sclerosis
The etiology of systemic sclerosis (SSc) remains unclear, but appears to involve complex pathogenic interactions between the immune system, the vasculature and fibrotic processes.
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Shingles Vaccine Not Cost-Effective in Those Under 60
The herpes zoster (HZ- shingles) vaccine was FDA approved for use in individuals over age 50 years. However, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended it only be used in those over age 60 years.
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Drug Safety Reports & FDA Updates – August 2015
Safety reports from literature include long-term safety of rituximab, rituximab-induced neutropenia, tabalumab (Anti-BAFF Mab) results from the ILLUMINATE trial, colchicine toxicity increased in CKD patients, FDA updates and drug labeling changes, and more.
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Serious Infections Increased in Etanercept-Treated Juvenile Arthritis Patients
UK researchers set out to study medically significant infections (MSI) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients enrolled in the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology Etanercept Cohort Study (BSPAR-ETN).
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Hospitalized Infections are Higher with the Second Biologic
Using Medicare claims data on 189,326 RA patients, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined the rates of hospitalized infections in previously biologic-treated RA patients and compared rates in cohorts starting new treatment with etanercept, adalimumab, certolizum
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Valeant Acquires Brodalumab from Astra-Zeneca
Reuters reports that Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (a Canadian Pharmaceutical company) is buying rights to AstraZeneca's late-stage experimental psoriasis drug, brodalumab, after it was dropped by codeveloper Amgen Inc in May. Amgen pulled out of the project b
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Advances in Uveitis Associated with Juvenile Arthritis
Uveitis is a common association of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) that has previously been characterized by poor visual prognosis with limited options for effective treatment.
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Early RA and the Chance of DMARD-Free Remission
Early and aggressive treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has become the mantra for most who manage the disease and hope to achieve optimal outcomes - including remission.
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Secukinumab Bests Ustekinumab in Psoriasis CLEAR Study
The CLEAR study was a one-year, randomized, double-blind trial compared subcutaneous standard doses of secukinumab (anti-IL17) and ustekinumab (anti-IL12/23) in patients with moderate-severe plaque psoriasis.
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Amgen Agrees to $71 Million Settlement over Enbrel & Aranesp Promotion
Based on potentiallly off-label promotion of blockbuster drugs Aranesp and Enbrel, Amgen has agreed to a $71 million settlement with 48 states and the District of Columbia.
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Serious Infections are Increasing in Lupus
Tektonidou and coworkers have analyzed hospitalized serious infections (SIE) involving lupus patients over a 15 year period and show that SIE in SLE have increased substantially between 1996 and 2011, and in 2011 are 12 times higher than seen in patients without SLE.
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Cancer Risk Is Both Increased and Decreased in RA
Rheumatoid arthritis patients are often said to have no or a low risk of cancer.
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Long-Term Safety of Rituximab
Rituximab has been used for years with good efficacy, but with several safety concerns. Van Vollenhoven and colleagues have published the cumulative clinical trial safety experience of RTX wherein 3595 patients 1–20 (average - 4) courses over 11 years [14,816 patient-years (PY)].
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Alemtuzumab Effective in Behcet's Syndrome
Behcet's disease is difficult to treat and often has an over-reliance on corticosteroid use. Alemtuzumab (previously known as Campath-1H) has been studed in patients with Behcet's.
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Specialty Society Guidelines Must Evolve to Improve
The current JAMA issue examines the process and potential flaws of society clinical practice guidelines -a timely commentary as we await the 2015 ACR RA treatment guidelines first presented at the 2014 ACR meeting in Boston and slated for upcoming publication in Arthritis & Rheumatology
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Psoriasis Patients Satisfied with Biologics
A recent study published in the journal Patient Preference and Adherence examined insured patients from the Optum Research Database who had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and queried them about their satisfaction with therapy.
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Rituximab Induced Neutropenia
In reviewing submitted abstracts for the 2014 ACR meeting, I was surprised by several abstracts focusing on neutropenia in patients receiving rituximab.
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Heel Pain, Uveitis, TB, Vitamin D, Hidradenitis: July 2015 top social media news
In July 2015, RheumNow published 73 tweets about impactful news, research and teaching points that I feel will have an impact on the rheumatology community. We had a reach (impressions) of 49,900, 63 mentions, and 1277 visits to RheumNow.com to check out what we publish.
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