New drug 'eases arthritis agony'
A new generation "smart" grug that can ease the agony of patients with previously untreatable rheumatoid arthritis has been launched in the UK.
Tocilizumab is the first medicine to target a key signalling molecule that underpins many inflammatory processes.
Five trials involving more than 4,000 patients have shown that it can transform the lives of patients who cannot tolerate other therapies or no longer respond to them. Six times more patients achieved clinical remission - meaning a return to normal life - with Tocilizumab than with the standard drug treatment methotrexate.
Tocilizumab, marketed as RoActemra, is a laboratory-manufacturer antibody that blocks the activity of interleukin 6 (IL-6), an important immune system signalling molecule. It is the first completely new type of drug for tackling rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to be developped in 10 years.
The injected drug may be given either on its own or in combination with traditional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate.
Crucially it offers new hope for patients who can no longer be helped by another family of advanced "biologic" drugs, TNF (tumour necrosis factor) inhibitors. In patients not responding to methotrexate or anti-TNF drugs, tocilizumab achieved 30% remission rates after six months.
After two years, remission rates of 54% were attained for methotrexate non-responders.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the body's own immune system attacks the joints. If affects aroung 646,000 people in the UK, many of whom are severely disabled. The direct and indirect costs of the disease are estimated at £3.8 billion to £4.75 billion a year in the UK alone.
Professor Paul Emery, from the University of Leeds, who was one of the trial investigators, said: "This is certainly one of the most exciting therapies to have emerged in the last decade. IL-6 receptor inhibition is an innovative approach to the treatment of RA and RoActemra is a much anticipated addition to the armoury of treatments needed to combat the condition."
Like anti-TNF drugs, tocilizumab is not cheap, costing £9,300 per patient per year. The National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), is currently reviewing the drug's cost effectiveness.