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Methotrexate Impairs COVID Vax Response
One-third of patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases being treated with methotrexate showed attenuated responses to the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers reported.
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Triple DMARD Therapy Bested by Biologics in Swedish Registry
The Swedish Register compared outcomes of 1502 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients initiating either biologics plus methotrexate (MTX) or triple therapy (MTX plus sulfasalazine plus hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine) and showed similar rates of sustained remission.
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Tocilizumab Augmented Efficacy in COVID-19 Pneumonia with High CRP
JAMA Internal Medicine report an analysis of recent and composite trial data suggesting that tocilizumab (TCZ) therapy in COVID-19–associated pneumonia patients with high CRP levels is likely to be effective.
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Congress Slams AbbVie Over Price Hikes, 'Frivolous' Patents
House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pummeled AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez for raising the price of two widely used drugs and for the company's "legally questionable" tactics to head off competition from biosimilars, despite pulling in healthy profits.
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Factors Associated with COVID-19 Deaths in Rheumatic Patients
Analysis of data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance shows that rheumatic diseases infected with COVID-19 had a greater risk of death with age, comorbidities, high disease activity and few specific therapies.
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RheumNow Podcast – Myth Busters (5.21.2021)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Lower Rates of Serious Infection with Ustekinumab in Psoriatic Disease
Patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis who were being treated with ustekinumab (Stelara) had lower rates of serious hospitalized infections than patients receiving other biologics or small molecule therapies, a study utilizing data from two commercial claims databases found.
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Tocilizumab Risk of Diverticulitis and GI Perforation
A French registry analysis compared the risk of diverticulitis and gastrointestinal perforation (GIP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with biologics and found a greater risk of both in patients receiving tocilizumab (TCZ) compared with those on rituximab (RTX) or abatacept (ABA
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Checkpoint Inhibitor Safety in Melanoma Patients with Autoimmune Disease
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are well known to cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). A study from the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry shows that the use of checkpoint inhibitors for advanced melanoma in AID (autoimmune disease) patients did not increase the risk of irAEs, except for those with preexisting IBD.
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IL-23 Inhibitor Tildrakizumab Effective in Psoriatic Arthritis
Tildrakizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-23p19 studied in adults with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), was found to be superior to placebo and well tolerated without reports of uveitis, systemic fungal infections, inflammatory bowel disease, major cardiac events or death.
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RheumNow Live 2021 Now Available for All
RheumNow Live (RNL) for 2021 was held March 20 - 21 in Fort Worth, TX, and now all can partake in the meeting - by video, podcast or by signing up for Tuesday Nite Rheumatology (TNR).
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Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease
Sparks and colleagues have published a matched cohort analysis demonstrating risk factors that may augment the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD), especially the combination of obesity, high CRP, high MD-HAQ and >30 pack-year smoking h
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Insurers Bet Big on Bribing Patients
Last month, psoriasis patients covered by Cigna received a curious letter from the insurance giant's pharmacy management division.
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AURORA-1: Voclosporin Efficacy in Lupus Nephritis
Lancet has published the results of the AURORA-1 trial, wherein the calcineurin inhibitor, voclosporin, was tested in a placebo controlled trial of lupus nephritis and shown to be effective at inducing a complete renal response.
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FDA Advisors Split on Avacopan for Vasculitis
Members of an FDA advisory panel were sharply divided as to whether avacopan, an oral small molecule inhibitor of the C5a receptor, was sufficiently safe and effective for treating antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis.
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Avacopan for ANCA Vasculitis Goes in Front of the FDA
An FDA advisory panel will consider whether to recommend approval of an oral C5a inhibitor for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, with agency staff raising questions over the "clinical meaningfulness" of key study data.
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