New Hope for Rheumatoid Arthritis Sufferers

Twenty-one million rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferers worldwide should be thrilled to know that remission is closer to reality through combination therapy with a drug known as Tocilizumab. The new data, the results of intensive research, was presented recently at The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) meeting in Paris, and makes Tocilizumab the first and only biologic therapy to have achieved better results than Methotrexate, the current RA treatment. Given the lack of really effective treatments for this debilitating disease, these are very hopeful results.

Tocilizumab, manufactured by Switzerland pharmaceutical giant Rochwhich, is the first RA treatment to outperform the current standard treatment, Methotrexate, when the treatments are used alone. The new drug has been approved in Japan, but hasn't reached the U.S. or European markets as yet. It is set to be considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late July. The company is predicting the drug to be a billion dollar seller.

Rheumatoid arthritis can cause pain, stiffness, swelling, and may cause disabilities, all resulting from inflammation of the membrane lining the joints throughout the body. The combination therapy study, known as COMET, consisted of a combination of Methotrexate and Etanercept used in patients with early active Remithroid Arthritis (RA) and was the first major trial where RA was treated with biologic therapy where the goal was remission. Remission was achieved in over 50 percent of the patients participating in the 52-week study, reported in the European Union League Against Rheumatism press release.

Paul Emery, M.D., of the University of Leeds, in his recent presentation, reported results of a 52-week combination study on RA patients treated with both Etanercept and Methotrexate, those treated with only Methotrexate, and also results for patients evaluated for radiographic efficiency. Eighty percent of patients with RA who were treated with Etanercept achieved radiographic remission as did almost 60 percent of those treated with only Methotrexate. Half of the patients treated with the combination of treatments achieved clinical remission, but only a little over a quarter of those treated with Methotrexate alone were in clinical remission. The proportion of patients achieving functional remission was significantly greater in the combination therapy group at 55 percent versus 39 percent with only Methotrexate. Some serious adverse side effects were reported in 12 percent of patients from both groups..

Dr. Emery stated, "Until recently, we did not know whether remission was a realistic or even achievable goal." "We now have results which show that not only is clinical remission achievable in a significant number of patients, but radiographic and functional remissions are also achievable." Through several studies new treatment has shown to be successful with combination therapy in RA patients. With the new studies and drugs there may be hope on the horizon for RA sufferers.