VBCR - December 2017, Vol 6, No 5

The efficacy and safety of sarilu­mab, a human monoclonal antibody blocking the interleukin-6 receptor alpha, were evaluated for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 3 clinical trials, including the MOBILITY trial.

This analysis of the MOBILITY and TARGET studies showed that patients treated with sarilumab achieved responses as early as week 4, and that ongoing sarilumab treatment resulted in achievement of remission or LDA through week 24, with additional increases seen through week 52 (MOBILITY).

Tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The current study reported on updated integrated safety data from 8 randomized trials that further described the safety profile for up to 5.5 years of baricitinib in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA.

On October 26, 2017, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee announced that they had reached an agreement to permanently repeal the annual limit on per-patient therapy expenditures in Medicare, often referred to as “therapy caps.”

ACR officials said the response originates from the CMS 2019 Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule, which governs the state and federal health exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

An increasing number of insurers are using step therapy protocols, which mandate that a patient try and fail 1 or more formulary-covered medications before providing coverage for non-formulary or non-preferred medications that were originally prescribed by the patient’s physician.

Dallas, TX— Insurance claims for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) accounted for a mean total cost of care 3.5 times higher than that of individuals without RA, with approximately 67% of the difference attributed to biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) use, according to the results of a recent study presented via poster at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Nexus 2017 Conference.

Psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by thick, inflamed patches of skin, affects approximately 7.5 million people in the United States. Plaque psoriasis is the most common form of psoriasis, affecting 80% to 90% of patients with the disease.

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Results 21 - 30 of 32
  • Rheumatology Practice Management
  • American Health & Drug Benefits
  • Value-Based Cancer Care
  • Value-Based Care in Myeloma
  • Value-Based Care in Neurology