Dermatology

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a rare immune-mediated skin disorder, typically occurring in middle-aged and older adults, that involves painful blistering of the skin and mucous membranes. While many patients are well controlled on systemic corticosteroid treatment, steroid-sparing therapy can be desirable for treating moderate to severe forms of the disease, and rituximab is one such agent to show promise in this indication.

Adherence and persistence rates for biologic drugs are still low in the United States, leading to suboptimal patient outcomes and putting a substantial burden on the healthcare system.

This Psoriasis Awareness Month, a new review of real-world experience with adalimumab (Humira) in patients with psoriasis finds that adalimumab is slightly less safe, but has better effectiveness and drug survival, than other biologic treatment options.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) explains that, compared with anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs, both guselkumab and risankizumab offered a superior benefit based on currently available data.

The FDA has approved Genentech’s innovator rituximab (Rituxan) for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe pemphigus vulgaris (PV). This expanded indication makes the drug the first biologic approved for the treatment of PV, a rare autoimmune disease that affects the skin and mucous membranes with progressive blistering.

A new study used flow cytometry to compare phosphorylation levels of intracellular epitopes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with psoriasis in clinical remission who were treated with reference infliximab versus healthy controls, and further evaluated whether a switch from reference infliximab to biosimilar CT-P13 affected intracellular phosphorylation patterns.

There are a variety of biologics available for the treatment of psoriasis; our latest infographic provides examples of each type.

Fresenius Kabi, a subsidiary of the German-based Fresenius SE and Co. KFaA, announced yesterday that its Marketing Authorization Application for MSB11022, an adalimumab (Humira) biosimilar candidate, was submitted and accepted for review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Janssen-Cilag International’s biologic drug guselkumab (Tremfya) has received approval from the European Commission (EC) for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy.

A new review discusses the systemic treatment of psoriasis and recommends biologics and biosimilars for long-term treatment of psoriasis because of their better tolerability and safety compared with other systemic treatments, which are limited largely by poor tolerability and cumulative toxicity.

A recent Health Technology Assessment (HTA) report by the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) concludes that adalimumab, etanercept, and ustekinumab improve the symptoms of psoriasis in children and young people in the short term, but the cost-effectiveness of these medications requires further study.

A survey and drug utilization analysis conducted among UK healthcare professionals found that 75% of respondents were aware that biosimilars were available on their local formularies, and 77% considered biosimilars to be either extremely or very important to save costs for the National Health Service.