Psoriasis Advocacy Group Urges FDA Panel To Approve Abatacept For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Main Category: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Also Included In: Eczema / Psoriasis
Article Date: 09 Sep 2005 - 17:00 PDT

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"Psoriasis Cure Now," a nonprofit patient advocacy group, today urged the Food and Drug Administration's Arthritis Drugs Advisory Committee to support approval of abatacept for use by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The biologic drug would be marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) under the brand name Orencia.

"As we have seen repeatedly in the past, many of the same medications that help RA patients also bring relief to people with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, and vice versa," said Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now. "We would like abatacept available not just to help RA patients, but because it may provide the psoriasis community with an additional treatment option."

Biologics for the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are already bringing relief to tens of thousands of Americans with these painful, debilitating and incurable diseases. But no psoriasis treatment works for everyone; each treatment works better for some patients than for others; and in some cases, patients find their treatment loses effectiveness for them over time. Additional options, then, provide patients with more opportunities to find a treatment that will work for them.

"We do have a concern that post-Vioxx skittishness may lead some to try to slow down the approval of promising new treatment options," added Paranzino, himself a psoriasis patient. "But that would be a mistake. We patients need relief, and we need it now. The FDA should continue to approve these promising new treatments, while also strengthening their post-approval monitoring of any adverse events that may emerge once large populations are using a particular drug."

Paranzino is scheduled to appear before the Advisory Committee in its afternoon session. His written statement to the Committee is available here: psorcurenow.org/abatacept.php

A small, Phase I, BMS-funded, open-label study of abatacept by leading psoriasis investigators, published in the May 1999 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that the drug demonstrated efficacy in reducing psoriasis symptoms.

Psoriasis Cure Now
http://www.psorcurenow.org

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