Drug offers hope for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers
Sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis have been given hope of a new drug that may stop the condition.
RoActemra, administered monthly through injections, has been indicated by trial data to work alongside an existing treatment, methotrexate, to stop the condition in which the body begins attacking its own joints. However, the combination of the two drugs, the former of which will be manufactured by Roche, does nothing to reverse the effects of the condition.
The treatment was trialled using 1,190 patients. In those taking both medications, rheumatoid arthritis was halted in just under half (47%) of the subjects. With those just taking methotrexate, this fell to less than one in 10 (8%).
X-rays showed that the combined medication slowed structural damage to joints by 85%, compared with 67% for patients taking methotrexate.
Professor Paul Emery, from Leeds University which led the study, said the results demonstrated that RoActemra, which is still waiting to be approved across Europe and the US, could "effectively and rapidly diminish the painful and debilitating effects of rheumatoid arthritis".
