Allison Inserro

May 03, 2019

The Congressional Budget Office this week released a report that examines the different components of what putting together a single-payer system could involve, as well as the implications. Here we highlight 2 sections of the report that are likely of interest to those following biosimilars, drug pricing and healthcare cost containment.

May 02, 2019

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Arthritis Foundation (AF) released guidelines for treating 2 subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), which affects nearly 300,000 children in the United States. One guideline discusses therapeutic approaches for non-systemic polyarthritis, sacroiliitis, and enthesitis; the other focuses on the screening, monitoring, and treatment of JIA with associated uveitis. The second guideline focuses on uveitis, which can be a chronic or acute disease.

May 01, 2019

Functional disabilities start to appear in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 1 to 2 years before diagnosis, signaling that earlier diagnosis and more aggressive treatment may lessen the burden of disease, according to a study released today.

April 29, 2019

“The path forward requires a sustainable, fair payment system in which drug prices reflect the value provided and reward innovations that improve outcomes,” wrote Robert M. Califf, MD, and Andy Slavitt.

April 27, 2019

A recent exploratory study found signs that retail pharmacies may be associated with higher nonadherence to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) medications.

April 24, 2019

New data from a subset analysis of MONITOR‐GCSF, a multicenter study from Europe, show that biosimilar filgrastim has similar effectiveness and safety to reference filgrastim (Neupogen).

April 23, 2019

Xbrane Biopharma, a Swedish biotechnology company, says it is starting its phase 3 trial of its ranibizumab biosimilar, referencing Lucentis, and also set sales targets for the treatment for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.

April 22, 2019

Adalimumab and infliximab showed the highest discontinuation rate due to patient remission, followed by golimumab, in the study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

April 19, 2019

CMS’ final 2020 Payment Notice will allow insurers to stop counting the value of manufacturer drug coupons for branded drugs towards a beneficiary’s maximum out-of-pocket costs in order to promote the use of generic drugs.

April 17, 2019

Last year, the average rise of per employee cost of specialty drugs was 12%, with oncology making up the largest category.