Gabriela Lavezzari on Improving the Lives of Patients with Arthritis

Many people are unaware of the impact of arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases in the United States. They affect approximately 52.5 million Americans of all ages, races and genders. The biopharmaceutical industry is making great strides towards new treatments with 92 medicines in the pipeline which have the potential to help patients live more active and productive lives. Work on these treatments is more imperative than ever as 67 million people could be diagnosed with some form of musculoskeletal disease by 2030, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Earlier this year, PhRMA joined 10 biopharmaceutical companies, the National Institutes of Health and several non-profit disease foundations to form the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP). The goal of AMP is to increase the number of new diagnostics and treatments available to patients while decreasing the time and cost of developing them. One of the three initial pilot programs focuses on identifying and validating biological targets of the autoimmune disorders of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus. Biopharmaceutical researchers are working to developing new RA treatments for the 1.5 million Americans affected by this debilitating disease, as demonstrated by the 55 medicines in the pipeline. It is essential that patients have access to new therapies as they become available. Unfortunately, patients with new health insurance exchange coverage may face high out-o...
Source: PHRMA - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news