Content about Immunosuppressants

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. — A large number of patients with a serious form of arthritis experienced improvement in their condition after taking a drug made by Abbott Labs for three months, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial announced Monday.

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb for injection under the skin to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Bristol said Friday.

The New York-based drug maker said the approval of Orencia (abatacept) for subcutaneous injection in patients with moderate to severe RA made it the first biotech drug for RA available in self-injectable and intravenous infusion formulations.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for preventing organ rejection in kidney transplant patients, the agency said Wednesday.

The FDA approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Nulojix (belatacept), for preventing acute rejection in adult patients. The drug is approved for use with other immune system-suppressing drugs, specifically Novartis’ Simulect (basiliximab), Genentech’s CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) and corticosteroids.

EAST HANOVER, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Novartis as the first treatment for advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, Novartis said Thursday.

Novartis announced the approval of Afinitor (everolimus), saying it marked the first approval of a drug for advanced pancreatic NET in nearly 30 years. The drug already is approved for treating cancers of the kidneys and brain.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has received reports of a rare and usually deadly cancer in patients using a class of biotech drugs to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, the agency said Thursday.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — A drug used to treat inflammatory diseases improved the conditions of patients with psoriasis that affected the scalp compared with placebo, according to results of a new study.

Amgen and Pfizer on Friday announced the results of the phase-4 study of Enbrel (etanercept), in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis with scaling on the scalp, also known as scalp involvement. Data from the trial will be presented Friday at the 69th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in New Orleans.

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review a supplemental approval application for an arthritis drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, the drug maker said Monday.

Bristol is seeking approval for Orencia (abatacept) injected into the skin as a treatment for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. The drug already is approved for intravenous injection.

NEW YORK Patients with rheumatoid arthritis derive about as much benefit from a weekly injection of a biotech drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb for the disease as they do from receiving it via IV on a monthly basis, according to late-stage clinical trial data released Monday.

BURLINGTON, Mass. The drug market for Crohn's disease treatments will see moderate growth over the next decade, Decision Resources reported Wednesday.

The research firm projected that the market will increase a little more than 31%, from $3.2 billion in 2009 to $4.2 billion in 2019, in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. Decision Resources said the the modest growth rate masks such market changes as new and emerging biologics, as well as generic competition.