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Diplomat Pharmacy Begins Dispensing Kevzara to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

Diplomat Pharmacy Begins Dispensing Kevzara to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

Diplomat Pharmacy has begun filling prescriptions for Kevzara (sarilumab) for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The announcement comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving the therapy in May. The agency authorized Kevzara for adults with RA who failed to responded to, or were unable to tolerate, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as…

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Filgotinib Improves RA Patient Outcomes When Methotrexate Is Inadequate, Study Suggests

Filgotinib Improves RA Patient Outcomes When Methotrexate Is Inadequate, Study Suggests

Active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients whose response to methotrexate (MTX) therapy was insufficient showed improvement when MTX was combined with filgotinib, an investigational JAK–1 inhibitor, according to results of a Phase 2b clinical trial. The study titled, “Filgotinib (GLPG0634/GS-6034), an oral JAK1 selective inhibitor, is effective in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in patients…

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EMA Accepts Humira and Remicade Biosimilars for Regulatory Review

EMA Accepts Humira and Remicade Biosimilars for Regulatory Review

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted a marketing authorization application from generic pharmaceuticals developer Sandoz for the review of biosimilars for AbbVie’s Humira (adalimumab) and Janssen’s Remicade (infliximab), used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Remicade is widely used for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy. Biosimilars are biopharmaceutical drugs that have similar…

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DMARDs Triple Therapy Provides Better Cost-Effective First Line Strategy for RA, Study Finds

DMARDs Triple Therapy Provides Better Cost-Effective First Line Strategy for RA, Study Finds

Results of a recent study showed that biological therapy regimens, such as Enbrel (etanercept), Humira (adalimumab), ‎Remicade (infliximab), ‎Simponi (golimumab), or ‎Cimzia (certolizumab), are less cost-effective compared to DMARD combination in triple therapy with ‎Azulfidine (sulfasalazine), ‎Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine), and ‎Trexall (methotrexate) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis…

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Kevzara Approved by FDA for Treatment of RA in Adults Who Don't Respond to DMARDs

Kevzara Approved by FDA for Treatment of RA in Adults Who Don’t Respond to DMARDs

Kevzara (sarilumab) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not responded to or are intolerant to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate (MTX). The wholesale price of the new treatment is about 30 percent less than the wholesale costs of the two…

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Learning Sessions Help Rheumatologists Take Better Care of RA Patients, Study Says

Learning Sessions Help Rheumatologists Take Better Care of RA Patients, Study Says

Group-based quality improvement sessions, based on the recommended “treat to target” (TTT) approach, can help rheumatologists improve the quality of their care for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, a recent study suggests. Results of the study, “Implementation of Treat to Target in Rheumatoid Arthritis through a Learning Collaborative: Results of the TRACTION Randomized Controlled Trial,” were…

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Potential Treatment Sirukumab Up Before FDA and EMA with High Expectations, J&J Reports

Potential Treatment Sirukumab Up Before FDA and EMA with High Expectations, J&J Reports

A potential treatment for moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, sirukumab, is under consideration by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval, with the application supported by results from five Phase 3 clinical trials. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) one of the companies developing sirukumab — through its subsidiary Janssen, working with GlaxoSmithKline — said in a recent business…

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Can-Fite Files Clinical Trial Application in Canada for Piclidenoson to Treat RA

Can-Fite Files Clinical Trial Application in Canada for Piclidenoson to Treat RA

Can-Fite BioPharma has filed a clinical trial application (CTA) with Health Canada for piclidenoson (CF101) as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Piclidenoson is an orally bioavailable drug with a favorable therapeutic index that is under development for the treatment of autoimmune inflammatory diseases like RA and psoriasis. It’s a new, first-in-class A3 adenosine receptor agonist…

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Biosimilar CT-P13 Can Safely Replace Much More Expensive Remicade as RA Treatment, Study Finds

Biosimilar CT-P13 Can Safely Replace Much More Expensive Remicade as RA Treatment, Study Finds

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients taking Remicade (infliximab) can safely switch to CT-P13 — a much cheaper biosimilar of Remicade — according to a Norwegian study published in The Lancet. The study, “Switching from originator infliximab to biosimilar CT-P13 compared with maintained treatment with originator infliximab (NOR-SWITCH): a 52-week, randomised, double-blind, non-inferiority trial,”…

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Researchers Uncover Gene Variations Linked to RA, Other Immune Diseases

Researchers Uncover Gene Variations Linked to RA, Other Immune Diseases

A large-scale genetic study, in combination with information from electronic health records (EHRs), identified new human leukocyte antigen (HLA) associations with several immune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The findings were reported in the study “Phenome-wide scanning identifies multiple diseases and disease severity phenotypes associated with HLA variants,”…

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Phase 3 Trial Finds Kevzara Superior to Humira, and Just as Safe, in Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis

Phase 3 Trial Finds Kevzara Superior to Humira, and Just as Safe, in Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis

The drug Kevzara (sarilumab) is more effective than Humira (adalimumab) — and just as safe — in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who cannot tolerate or don’t respond to methotrexate (MTX) treatment, concludes MONARCH (NCT02332590), which tested both drugs in a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group Phase 3 trial. The study, “Efficacy and safety of sarilumab monotherapy versus…

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Despite Treatment, 80% of RA Patients Report 'Life-Altering' Pain Weekly or Even Daily, Survey Finds

Despite Treatment, 80% of RA Patients Report ‘Life-Altering’ Pain Weekly or Even Daily, Survey Finds

Honestly RA, an online survey for Americans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), found that although most RA patients agree that the treatments improve their lives, 80 percent still experience life-altering pain multiple times per week or even daily. The survey, promoted by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, included information collected between July 25 and Aug. 8, 2016, from 1,004 adult patients…

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Kevzara Takes Step Toward EU Approval, While FDA Decision Is Expected in May

Kevzara Takes Step Toward EU Approval, While FDA Decision Is Expected in May

Kevzara (sarilumab) has received a thumbs-up from the European Medicine Agency (EMA), which has recommended that the European Commission approve it to treat adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, according to a press release. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision by May 22 on whether to approve Kevzara’s use in the United States,  according to…

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients More Likely to Develop Atherosclerosis, British Study Shows

Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients More Likely to Develop Atherosclerosis, British Study Shows

People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to develop atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the heart, according to new research. The study, “Imaging atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis: evidence for increased prevalence, altered phenotype and a link between systemic and localised plaque inflammation,” appeared in the journal Scientific Reports. In RA, chronic…

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Phase 3 Trial of Can-Fite's Piclidenoson for Treating RA Is Underway

Phase 3 Trial of Can-Fite’s Piclidenoson for Treating RA Is Underway

Can-Fite BioPharma’s Phase 3 ACRobat clinical trial protocol was approved by Barzilai Medical Center’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and patient enrollment is now ready to begin. The study will be evaluating piclidenoson (CF101) as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at the hospital in Ashkelon, Israel. As enrollment begins in Israel, further IRB approvals in Europe and Canada are…

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Researchers Find 2 Potential Molecules for Fighting Rheumatoid Arthritis, Other Inflammatory Diseases

Researchers Find 2 Potential Molecules for Fighting Rheumatoid Arthritis, Other Inflammatory Diseases

Greek researchers have found two molecules — T23 and T8 — that show promise in treating rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases. Both molecules act against tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL). Their study, “Cheminformatics-aided discovery of small-molecule Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) dual inhibitors of Tumor Necrosis Factor…

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Early Treatment Improves Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms, Helps Patients Live Longer, Study Suggests

Early Treatment Improves Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms, Helps Patients Live Longer, Study Suggests

Earlier and more aggressive treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) helps patients grip things, walk and dress themselves better — and live longer, a study suggests. The daily lives of people with the condition have improved in the past 20 years, thanks to new therapies and new strategies for managing the disease, but early treatment generates the best results, the researchers said. The study,…