The RheumNow Week in Review – 6 January 2017 Save

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the first week of 2017 on RheumNow.com.

Happy New Year!

1. RheumNow celebrates its 4000th Anniversary Tweet! It all started with the goal to share a pearl, study result, or the answer to test question. Wisdom prevails!
2. Among 40,000 Dutch, 1% had ACPA+; 22% had RA. ACPA associated with being older, female, joint symptoms, smoking, RA, relatives of RA. https://t.co/8HuCE3XOtU
3. Big decline in 2016 new drug approvals; 22/2016, (45/2015, 41/2014); 9 were for orphan drugs; 8 were firs in class, the number of new filings is unchanged. (No new drugs for arthritis or Rheumatology. These do not include 3 new TNF biosimilars) https://t.co/ssoGcVqtAF
4. TNF inhibitor survival in 2687 Finnish patients - 27% discontinue TNFi in 12 mos. Worse with CZP & Remicade, better with combo MTX https://t.co/13vJxWGWCs
5. Decline in chemokine CXCL4 in MMF Treated patients with improved ILD & scleroderma - epiphenomenal or pathogenic? https://t.co/z9U4FYCHLN
6. NICE recommends apremilast for use in psoriatic arthritis within UK NHS. Risk of suidical ideation is only 0.2% (3/1441). https://t.co/ZFDSo3B81u
7. NY Times article says Acthar is "single most expensive drug per patient" costing Medicare $16,2371 per patientst for 3100 Medicare patients treated with Acthar. https://t.co/cskPO7OM1E
8. CDC Grand Rounds on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (AKA Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) (ME/CFS) fails to recognize Fibromyalgia as same disease. https://t.co/jem0QpMNxT
9. Systematic review of >1000 IBD pts treated with biosimilar CT-P13 vs Remicade shows no difference in efficacy, safety, ADAbs https://t.co/BElV5shX03
10. CDC confirms current influenza vaccines correctly cover strains seen thus far in 2016 and for 2017. Also these strains are senstive to available antiviral Rx (eg, Tamiflu). https://t.co/afag7dq524
11. Hospira (biosimilar division of Pfizer) began to ship its Inflectra biosimilar to U.S. wholesalers on Nov. 21 & has a sales force in place
12. Iron deficiency anemia associated with a 2 fold increased risk of sensorineural hearing loss. IDA & SNHL is found in 1.6% of the population. https://t.co/RT77Sjkc4O
13. Myriad faces loss of Medicare pay for RA VECTRA-DA test, based on recent CMS report. The test is still available. https://t.co/YBx3BqVKeQ
14. Incident RA prevalence = 0.63%; 2/3 are treated with a DMARD; but 28% were not. How many have never seen a rheumatologist? 38% @1yr & 15% @2yr never seen by Rheumatologist https://t.co/haqDyRAxCN
15. Weight loss improves Psoriasis. 
16. Pregnancy Outcomes in Psoriatic Arthritis.
17. Biopsy Proven Renal Involvement in Sjogren's Syndrome. 
18. Modest Benefits with Intraarticular Corticosteroids in Knee Osteoarthritis 
19. PPI Safety Issues 
20. A Low Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease with IL-17 Inhibition
21. CHMP Recommend Baricitinib for Approval in Europe 
22. A Link Between Periodontal Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis