Adalimumab

Common sense might dictate that, in maintaining health and wellness, being proactive is generally better than being reactive. But the practice of medicine often demands more than just common sense — it demands data and evidence to support clinical decision making. The discussion of therapeutic drug monitoring for biologic therapies hinges on this conundrum. Proactive monitoring appears to be the common-sense approach, but the data supporting its use have not yet closed the case.

Common sense might dictate that, in maintaining health and wellness, being proactive is generally better than being reactive. But the practice of medicine often demands more than just common sense. It demands data and evidence to support clinical decision making. The discussion of therapeutic drug monitoring in gastroenterology hinges on this conundrum. Proactive monitoring appears to be the common-sense approach, but the data supporting its use have not yet closed the case.

A 90% reduction in Psoriasis Area Severity Index and a 90% decrease in body surface area may help pediatric patients with psoriasis reach optimal quality of life, according to findings published in JAMA Dermatology.

SAN FRANCISCO — Only adalimumab is FDA-approved for the treatment of noninfectious intermediate and posterior uveitis and panuveitis; however, other biologics hold promise for the treatment of ocular inflammation, according to a presentation at Cornea Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.

ATLANTA — Data from the Varicella Zoster Vaccine study demonstrate that administering live, attenuated varicella vaccine to patients taking TNF inhibitors did not result in any safety events or disease flare after 6 weeks. In addition, there were no cases of varicella infection — either wild or vaccine type.

ATLANTA — Annual public spending by Medicare and Medicaid on biologic DMARDs more than doubled, from $5.3 billion in 2012 to $10.3 billion in 2016, largely due to post-market price increases, according to Natalie McCormick, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Adalimumab and phototherapy for psoriasis are both associated with statistically significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes after 12 weeks, but phototherapy yields greater improvement in quality of life and pain, according to recent study findings.

Physicians have an array of biologic agents available to treat patients with ulcerative colitis, but it is still unknown which therapies are superior, as well as which therapies work best in certain instances.

IBI303, a biosimilar to adalimumab developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Innovent Biologics, is comparable in safety and efficacy to the originator drug among patients with ankylosing spondylitis, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

There are endless idioms about blood. It is thicker than water, but one cannot get it from a stone. Truman Capote wrote about the cold version, rock band Foreigner sang about the hot version. When it comes to rheumatic diseases, researchers are out for blood — blood-based biomarkers, that is.