Rheumatology

A new study has found that switching among multiple biosimilar infliximab products was not associated with increased immunogenicity in patients with inflammatory diseases.

During this week’s European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, researchers from the University of Manchester reported on their findings regarding patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involved in the BSRBR-RA study who had switched from reference infliximab or reference etanercept to biosimilars.

Researchers say they were able to create an “antibody lock” that makes infliximab more selective in its activity, making it safer and more effective.

During this week’s European League Against Rheumatism Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, researchers will present on the long-term safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the biosimilar versus the reference in an open-label extension study that involved switching between the biosimilar and the reference.

During this week’s European League Against Rheumatism European Congress of Rheumatology 2019, 2 research teams will present their contrasting findings on education and the nocebo effect.

During this week’s European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, multiple teams of researchers will present their findings on real-world evidence of the biosimilar’s efficacy and the feasibility of switching to SB4 from the reference etanercept, Enbrel.

The Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA) has issued an update to its position statement on biosimilars. In the document, the CRA says that evidence for the risk/benefit ratio for biosimilars is accruing rapidly, and physicians must demonstrate fiscal responsibility while providing the best care possible to individual patients.

Researchers are reporting switching data from the phase 3 EQUIRA study in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), demonstrating that a single switch from the reference to the biosimilar had no impact on efficacy, safety, or immunogenicity of etanercept.

A study presented at the recent ISPOR 2019 meeting assessed both the cost associated with treatment with infliximab for patients at US hospitals as well as reasons for discontinuation of therapy during follow-up, and it found that insurance coverage status is one factor that plays a role in discontinuation of this therapy that rose consistently in price over the study period.

Treatment with the biosimilar, the investigators concluded, resulted in comparable, maintained quality of life improvements that were not impacted by a switch from the reference product.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a considerable economic burden, and costly biologics, are often restricted to cases in which patients fail to respond adequately to methotrexate or other conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, which may be difficult for some patients to tolerate.

The switch included patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis who were treated at a single center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

AbbVie announced today that it has settled its patent litigation with Boehringer Ingelheim over adalimumab.

Cost-effectiveness models for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) first emerged in the early 2000s when highly effective but also high-cost biologic therapies began to reach patients. However, these health technology assessment (HTA) models need improvement, a recent paper says.

Despite potential benefits of biosimilar adoption in terms of both patient access and healthcare system sustainability, and despite ongoing efforts at patient and provider education on biosimilars, stakeholders may continue to have concerns about perceived risks with switching. A new review of the available literature on switching—from randomized controlled trials and real-world evidence—sought to address those concerns, and said that additional education and ongoing real-world evidence collection will be necessary to increasing stakeholder comfort with these agents.

With additional biosimilars expected to reach the market later this year and beyond, Canada has made another move to foster biosimilar adoption with 2 recent developments.

Fresenius Kabi, maker of the EU-authorized biosimilar adalimumab, Idacio, has launched its product in Germany. Fresenius Kabi has made the biosimilar available for sale in pre-filled syringe, pre-filled pen, and vial presentations.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Arthritis Foundation (AF) released guidelines for treating 2 subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), which affects nearly 300,000 children in the United States. One guideline discusses therapeutic approaches for non-systemic polyarthritis, sacroiliitis, and enthesitis; the other focuses on the screening, monitoring, and treatment of JIA with associated uveitis. The second guideline focuses on uveitis, which can be a chronic or acute disease.

Functional disabilities start to appear in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 1 to 2 years before diagnosis, signaling that earlier diagnosis and more aggressive treatment may lessen the burden of disease, according to a study released today.

This month saw steps forward for biosimilars in the rheumatology space, with product approvals in multiple markets and the publication of long-term data that support the use of biosimilar agents in treating inflammatory diseases.

A recent exploratory study found signs that retail pharmacies may be associated with higher nonadherence to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) medications.

The FDA has approved Samsung Bioepis’ etanercept biosimilar, SB4, as Eticovo (etanercept-ykro). A representative from Samsung Bioepis has confirmed approval of the product to The Center for Biosimilars® in an email. The biosimilar is already approved in a variety of other markets under the name Benepali.

Adalimumab and infliximab showed the highest discontinuation rate due to patient remission, followed by golimumab, in the study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

After treatment withdrawal, 58.3% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) had relapsed. Half of the relapses appeared within 6 months.

The authors write that these data add to the totality of the evidence supporting the biosimilarity of the biosimilar infliximab with its reference.

Magellan Rx Management, a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), said today that its biosimilar management program has resulted in strong biosimilar uptake and significant drug cost savings for health plan organizations during its first year.

Last week, Health Canada approved Celltrion and Teva’s biosimilar rituximab, Truxima, for the treatment of adults with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and rheumatoid arthritis.

During this week’s 21st Congress of the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Australian Rheumatology Association, held April 8-11 in Brisbane, Australia, multiple groups of researchers are reporting on the real-world use of biosimilars in rheumatology. According to these research teams, biosimilars are proving to be effective in the real-world clinical setting.

This week, rheumatology experts will gather in Brisbane, Australia, for the 21st Congress of the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) and Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA), held April 8-11. During the meeting, several groups of researchers will discuss real-world experience with biosimilar infliximab in Asia.

The study is an open-label extension of a phase 3 trial that included 68 weeks of treatment with the biosimilar adalimumab, Amjevita, followed by an assessment visit at week 70 and an end-of-study visit at week 72.