Juvenile Arthritis News

The Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security met on Thursday, September 17 for a hearing on the implementation of biosimilar agents with Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, and among other questions about interchangeability and safety, some senators questioned the lack of action in the issuance of guidance documents.

Patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who were treated with Enbrel may be at a higher risk for medically significant infections compared to patients only treated with methotrexate, according to the results of a recently published study.

A cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis with low-dose exposure to glucocorticoids had normal body composition, and while patients with low BMD tended to have higher serum leptin levels, a significant association was not seen, according to a recently published report.

Lower patient-reported outcomes were observed in patients with entheses-related and undifferentiated juvenile idiopathic arthritis compared to oligoarticular and polyarticular rheumatoid factor-negative and other forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, according to recently published data.

While no biosimilars indicated for rheumatic diseases in the U.S. have been approved by the FDA, reader interest in the topic has been high as results from clinical trials and other clinical data are revealed.

In agreement with the FDA’s recent draft guidance on nonproprietary naming of biological products, six physician groups collectively sent a letter to CMS Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt on Tuesday urging CMS to adopt unique billing codes for biosimilars, according to a press release.

Simple practice-level interventions increased the pneumococcal vaccination coverage rate of pediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and others on immunosuppressive therapy, according to research in Pediatrics.

The FDA announced the availability of a draft guidance describing its proposal on the nonproprietary naming of biological products.

Genetic analysis of pediatric patients with 10 clinically distinct pediatric autoimmune diseases revealed overlapping genome-wide signals shared by at least two of the diseases, according to the results of a study.

Hospira announced that the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved Inflectra, its biosimilar to Remicade, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, adult and pediatric Crohn's disease, adult and pediatric ulcerative colitis and plaque psoriasis, and today, it was added to the country’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, according to a press release.