The biologic drug Actemra® to dramatically increase the benefit of Rheumatoid Arthritis monotherapy

treatment

Graeser Associates International

Good news for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients, as Actemra® (TOCILIZUMAB) shows superior

results in reducing disease activity in patients when compared to Humira® (ADALIMUMAB)

Rheumatoid Arthritis patients are often treated with biological drugs such as Actemra® or Humira®, usually combined with methotrexate. However, due to methotrexate intolerance, significant side effects or ineffectiveness, it is quite common to see patients receiving biological monotherapy, i.e., a single biological drug as the only therapy for their symptoms.

• From a recent study (Gabay et al., “TOCILIZUMAB (TCZ) MONOTHERAPY IS SUPERIOR TO ADALIMUMAB (ADA) MONOTHERAPY IN REDUCING DISEASE ACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA): 24-WEEK DATA FROM THE PHASE 4 ADACTA TRIAL” Ann Rheum Dis 2012;71(Suppl3):152) it is evident that patients receiving the Actemra® drug as monotherapy have had significant improvement in the reduction of the symptoms of the disease when compared to patients receiving Humira® after a 24 week period of treatment.

• From the 8th week and onwards, patients treated with Actemra® have demonstrated improvement in swollen and tender joint counts, ESR (Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, a common measure of inflammation) and patient global assessment, and statistical significance was also achieved in favor of Actemra® for the general disease remission and lower activity.

• The results of this research were presented at the EULAR (The European League Against Rheumatism) conference in Berlin in June 2012, and are considered a breakthrough which will enable physicians to better treat monotherapy patients suffering from polypharmacy side-effects and accordingly provide better care for this complex disease.

• In our next blog posts, Graeser Associates International will be providing you with the latest updates on biological drugs and biosimilars.

• We will also be providing powerpoint presentations, written reports, and short audio and video presentations through our Slideshare channel (www.slideshare.net/biosimilars). We will also be selling more detailed reports and longer audio and video presentations – please see our biosimilars product page for a list of products (www.biosimilars.me).

• Adv. Ariel Averbuch, RPh, is an advisor on IP, healthcare and business strategies at Graeser Associates International (GAI), an international health care intellectual property firm, and acts as Chairman at the Pharmaceutical Society of Israel (PSI). Adv. Averbuch has been a pharmacist for over 10 years and is also a lawyer and a patent attorney (Israel), having extensive experience in the pharmaceutical field. Follow Ariel Averbuch on LinkedIn and Twitter: @ArielAverbuch. Follow our biosimilar communications on Twitter: @biosimilarsGAI. Email us at biosimilars@gai-ip.com.