Content about Arthritis

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Genentech for a rare form of arthritis in children, the company said Tuesday.

Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss drug maker Roche, announced the approval of Actemra (tocilizumab) for polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children ages 2 years and older, either alone or combined with the generic drug methotrexate.

SAN DIEGO — Specialty drugs are expected to account for 50% of all drug costs by 2018, according to two new studies.

By contrast, specialty drugs accounted for 20% of all drug costs in 2009, but increased to 28.7% by 2012. Pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota conducted the studies, and Prime is presenting them Tuesday at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 25th annual meeting and expo in San Diego.

WAYNE, N.J. — A new product makes gripping such things as eating utensils, pens and toothbrushes easier for people with arthritis.

Maddak announced the availability of the Universal Built-Up Handle, designed as a "do-it-yourself" product to enlarge the gripping surfaces of common household items.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. — Patients with a form of arthritis that affects young adults taking a drug made by Abbott experienced improvements in their condition after a year of treatment, according to late-stage clinical trial results.

Abbott announced Monday the first long-term patient-reported health outcomes data for the phase-3 "ABILITY-1" trial of Humira (adalimumab) in patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis, or nr-axSpA. Results of the trial were presented at the American College of Rheumatology's annual scientific meeting in Washington.

LONDON — Vitamin D supplementation could be considered an immunomodulatory agent for systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease characterized not only by skin, joint, neurological and renal symptoms, but also by inflammation of tissue linings in the body, according to a new clinical study published Tuesday in BioMedCentral's open access journal Arthritis Research and Therapy. 

An immunomodulatory agent has an effect on the immune system. 

SUPPLIER NEWS — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Acton Pharmaceuticals for asthma, the company said. The drug maker announced the approval of Aerospan (flunisolide HFA) inhalation aerosol as a maintenance treatment for asthma in patients ages 6 years and older. The drug maker plans to launch the drug in early 2013.

HORSHAM, Pa. — A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson is hoping to gain Food and Drug Administration approval for a new formulation of one of its drugs.

Janssen Biotech announced that it had filed an application with the FDA seeking approval for an intravenous formulation of Simponi (golimumab) in adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, which affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans.

SPRING HOUSE, Pa. — A division of Johnson & Johnson has started a late-stage clinical trial program for a drug for rheumatoid arthritis under a partnership with British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline.

HORSHAM, Pa. — A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson is hoping to win an additional approval for one of its drugs.

Janssen Biotech and Janssen Biologics B.V. announced the submission of a supplemental regulatory application to the Food and Drug Administration for Simponi (golimumab) for treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that affects about 700,000 people in the United States. The drug already is approved for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The increase in the number of people with rheumatoid arthritis, and the challenges posed to drug makers by generics, is encouraging the development of new drugs for the disease, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan.

NEW YORK — Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb will present 20 study abstracts at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago, the company said Thursday.

Bristol said that of those, 18 contain new data from studies of Orencia (abatacept) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus nephritis.

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Patients with gout taking a drug made by Savient Pharmaceuticals experienced "significant" improvements, according to results of two late-stage clinical trials published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.