New treatment option for psoriatic arthritis recommended for routine NHS use

An effective new oral therapy for psoriaticarthritis has been approved for routine NHS use by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The regulatory body has issued a final appraisal determination recommending the use of apremilast, also known by its brand name Otezla, for the treatment of adult patients with activepsoriatic arthritis, and may represent an important new breakthrough for the treatment of the disease. A first-in-class therapy Otezla is designed for use by patients who have had an inadequate response to or are unable to tolerate treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumaticdrugs, and is recommended with a patient access scheme for adults who have peripheral arthritis with three or more tender joints and three or more swollen joints. It works by reducing the activity of an enzyme called phosphodiesterase 4, which drives the inflammation associated with psoriatic arthritis, and reduces the signs and symptoms of the condition in this way. Otezla is the first oral psoriatic arthritis treatment of its kind to be approved for NHS use. This reverses NICE's previous decision to turn down this therapy in September 2015, and brings England and Wales in line with Scotland, where Otezla was recommended by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in June 2015. The benefits of the new treatment In clinical trials, this drug has demonstrated proven and durable efficacy in psoriatic arthritis, helping to relieve signs of swollen and tender joints, ...
Source: Arthritis Research UK - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: news