Psoriatic Arthritis News

Self-administered secukinumab was both safe and efficacious, leading to sustained improvements in disease signs and symptoms, among patients with psoriatic arthritis who had not responded to previous first-line therapies, according to findings published in Arthritis Research and Therapy.

Sandoz received a positive opinion the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for its proposed infliximab biosimilar for the treatment of all indications of its reference product across rheumatology, dermatology and gastroenterology, according to a manufacturer release.

Many rheumatic diseases – including systemic lupus erythematous, scleroderma and the various forms of psoriasis – present with a multitude of dermatologic symptoms that clinicians can easily confuse with other conditions.

The FDA has approved changing the boxed labeling on certolizumab pegol to include data demonstrating a negligible-to-low risk for drug transfer through placenta and a minimal risk for transfer through breast milk among women with chronic inflammatory diseases.

The use of biologic medications for autoimmune diseases prior to or during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk for preterm delivery or infants that are small for gestational age, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Patients with early inflammatory polyarthritis diagnosed within the new millennium experienced improved disease activity, compared with those diagnosed during the early 1990s, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Despite the expedited pathway for biosimilars enacted by the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, the development of competition in the U.S. biologics market has been slower than expected due to several regulatory issues, according to a new perspective piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Few patients with inflammatory arthritis reported participating in a structured self-management care program, although many physicians reported providing self-management support within routine care, according to findings published in Arthritis Care and Research.

Among human leukocyte antigen genes, the allele HLA-B*27 correlated with more severe enthesitis among patients with psoriatic arthritis, which suggests that genetic variants can affect an individual’s predisposition to sub-phenotypes of psoriatic arthritis.

Data published in the Journal of Rheumatology revealed that 27% of patients with psoriatic arthritis who had experience with biologics and/or small-molecule agents reported barriers to treatment, with the most common hurdles being coverage ineligibility and high out-of-pocket costs.