By F. Randy Vogenberg, PhD, RPh Institute for Integrated Healthcare Co-Founder, Bentelligence Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and related maladies are part of a growing area of interest in chronic diseases among multiple-­market stakeholders. The disease tends to hit adults of working age, often during their most productive years. Although RA and other chronic diseases generally represent a small number of members, they also represent large expenses per member from the perspective of the healthcare services purchaser—especially employers.

By Wayne Kuznar San Diego, CA—The use of biologic agents for autoimmune inflammatory diseases has been increasing between 2009 and 2011, according to a recent analysis of utilization data from commercial health plan members, which was presented at the 2013 Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s annual meeting. During that 3-year period, the overall increase of biologic drug use for autoimmune inflammatory disorders was 29.4%.

By Neil Canavan A study looking at families in which more than 1 member has fibromyalgia has found several strong genetic links for the disease. By examining the frequency of 341 distinct genetic markers, investigators determined that the estimated risk of fibromyalgia in siblings was 27.2% compared with just 2% in the overall population.

A novel study offers a new explanation for the geographical differences seen in Medicare costs across the nation.

A drug delivery system designed by researchers at Yale University shows promise for the treatment of lupus and other chronic autoimmune diseases.

INOVA Diagnostics of San Diego, CA, has licensed a new test developed by a team of rheumatologists at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

According to Australian rheumatologist Ranjeny Thomas, MD, Professor of Rheumatology and Head of the Autoimmunity Programme at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, by using tolerance-inducing antigen-specific strategies and dendritic cells, the field of rheumatology is moving ever closer to developing more effective immunotherapies that may eventually achieve greater drug specificity with lower toxicity, and perhaps even the potential to develop agents that could control or even prevent rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved canakinumab (Ilaris; Novartis) for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) in patients aged ≥2 years.

The Vectra DA test is a multibiomarker blood test that measures disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by integrating 12 key proteins that are consistently associated with the biology of RA into a single, objective, and quantitative score to help rheumatologists make more informed treatment decisions.