Arthritis drugs
Wednesday, 22 Aug 2007 12:20
Two new drugs have been approved
Health campaigners have welcomed the decision by the government's medicines regulator to allow two drugs to be used by the NHS to treat arthritis.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended that Mabthera be used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a condition which causes inflammation of the joints.
This leads to pain, swelling and stiffness and affects about 400,000 people in England and Wales.
Mabthera can now be given to NHS patients in combination with methotrexate if previous drugs have failed to treat RA.
Nice has also announced its decision to allow adalimumab (Humira) as a treatment option for adults with active and progressive psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory joint disease associated with the skin disease psoriasis.
The drug can now be used when the person has peripheral arthritis with three or more tender joints and three or more swollen joints.
If after three months Humira has not been successful than treatment should be discontinued, Nice said.
"These drugs represent the right approach for the NHS to take in the treatment of two severe forms of arthritis," said Andrew Dillon, executive lead for the appraisal.
"The approval of both of these drugs is good news for anyone suffering from rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis – by recommending the use of these drugs, people in England and Wales with these conditions can be reassured that they have access to effective treatments when they need them."
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