There’s good news for Australians living with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, with the government now adding a new treatment option — RINVOQ (upadacitinib) — for people with severe active RA to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and a new drug being tested for osteoarthritis sufferers.
The new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis was recently made available on the PBS for patients with moderate to severely active RA who have responded inadequately to, or who are intolerant to, one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
Around 450,000 Australians are currently living with RA, a condition that can affect anyone at any age and may cause significant pain and disability. RA typically begins in the smaller joints of the hands, wrists and feet. If not appropriately managed, ongoing inflammation can lead to irreversible joint damage and loss of function.
Rheumatologist Professor Andrew Ostor said that the availability of this new treatment option on the PBS is good news for people living with RA.
“The most important goal of treating rheumatoid arthritis is to reduce joint pain and swelling and to maintain and/or improve joint function,” he said. “The long-term goal of treatment is to slow or stop the disease process, particularly joint damage.”
Meanwhile, Alan Watts, medical director at AbbVie (the makers of RINVOQ), added: “With over 20 years’ experience in discovering and delivering therapies for people living with RA, we are dedicated to improving care for people living with this condition.
“Although the considerable advances in RA treatment in the past 20 years have seen a dramatic improvement in the lives of many, there are still patients in our community who need alternative options. We are proud to be able to provide patients and specialists with a new alternative.”
It comes just as the Australian late-stage drug development company Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals ran a small FDA approved-trial for its Zilusol drug targeting osteoarthritis. The trial achieved an average of 65 per cent reduction in pain. The new drug is available via the special access scheme (SAS) in Australia.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in Australia, with around 2.2 million people currently living with this painful condition, according to statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Osteoarthritis is a chronic condition characterised by the breakdown of the cartilage that overlies the ends of bones in joints. This results in the bones rubbing together, causing pain, swelling and loss of motion. Osteoarthritis mostly affects the hands, spine and joints such as hips, knees and ankles, and usually gets worse over time.
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