Rheumatoid Arthritis News and Research

Latest Rheumatoid Arthritis News and Research

Study shows lack of physical activity in 42% of adults with RA

A new study, funded by a grant from the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), found that two in five adults (42%) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were inactive.

27 Jan 2012

Amgen enters definitive merger agreement to acquire Micromet

Amgen and Micromet, Inc. today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amgen will acquire Micromet, a biotechnology company founded in Germany with its research and development (R&D) center in Munich and headquarters in Rockville, Md., for $11 per share in cash.

27 Jan 2012

Johnson & Johnson fourth quarter sales increase 3.9% to $16.3 billion

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $16.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011, an increase of 3.9% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Operational sales increased 4.0% and the negative impact of currency was 0.1%.

24 Jan 2012

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion to MSD's REMICADE for treatment of pediatric UC

MSD today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion recommending the use of REMICADE (infliximab) in the treatment of severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in pediatric patients ages 6 to 17 years, who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy, including corticosteroids and 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine, or who are intolerant to or have medical contraindications for such therapies.

21 Jan 2012

New book focuses on improving care for chronic diseases

Why does health care need to be redesigned? First - the current system is broken. It costs too much, and too often yields little value for patients and society. Second - it's fixable. The editors and authors of Great Health Care - Making It Happen are convinced of it.

20 Jan 2012

Testing for osteoporosis – how often?

A new study shows that many women who get screened for osteoporosis may not need it. It suggests that the current guidelines result in too many unnecessary tests, increasing costs and sometimes spurring unnecessary treatment.

19 Jan 2012

Patients with PsA may benefit from new medications and surgeries

Medications or biologic agents that target T-cells, white blood cells involved in the body's immune system, appear to offer significant benefit to patients suffering from psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a type of arthritis that affects up to 48 percent of patients with the skin disease psoriasis, according to a new review article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

19 Jan 2012

Researchers discover HS1.2 enhancer as the cause of SLE

A "genetic accelerator" is responsible for the most severe cases of Lupus (systemic lupus erythemathosus), an autoimmune disease: the accelerator, called enhancer HS1.2, speeds up the activity of some critical genes of the immune system involved in the disease.

17 Jan 2012

Scientists discover specific immune system T cells that trigger destruction of type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have proven - for the first time in human tissues -- the specific immune system T cells which trigger the destruction of type 1 diabetes in the pancreas. The finding is an important advance that verifies in humans several important disease characteristics shown in mouse studies and provides a key focal point for interrupting the disease process.

13 Jan 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that makes retinoblastoma so aggressive

New findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) have helped identify the mechanism that makes the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma so aggressive. The discovery explains why the tumor develops so rapidly while other cancers can take years or even decades to form.

11 Jan 2012

Cardinal Health launches infusion room management tool for community rheumatologists

Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions today launched InfusaTrack, a Web-based infusion room management tool that makes it easier for community rheumatology practices to offer in-office infusion therapy services to patients.

7 Jan 2012

GSK obtains exclusive license to ChemoCentryx's CCX354 CCR1 inhibitor for RA

ChemoCentryx, Inc., today announced that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has exercised its option to obtain an exclusive license for further development and worldwide commercialization of the investigational medicine CCX354, a potent and selective inhibitor of CCR1, a chemokine receptor that drives the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

6 Jan 2012

Regeneron, Genentech enter non-exclusive license and partial settlement agreement for EYLEA

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Company has entered into a non-exclusive license and partial settlement agreement with Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group relating to U.S. ophthalmic sales of EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection.

3 Jan 2012

FDA invites Amgen for ODAC meeting on XGEVA sBLA to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer

Amgen today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has invited the Company to participate in a meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) on Feb. 8, 2012 to discuss the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for XGEVA (denosumab) to treat men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) at high risk of developing bone metastases.

30 Dec 2011

CEL-SCI to expand Multikine Phase III trial in head and neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation is in the process of expanding its Phase III clinical trial of the investigational therapy Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) to 4 additional European countries - Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia.

27 Dec 2011

Synthetic drugs treat Crohn's disease in mice

A team of Weizmann Institute scientists has turned the tables on an autoimmune disease. In such diseases, including Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's tissues. But the scientists managed to trick the immune systems of mice into targeting one of the body's players in autoimmune processes, an enzyme known as MMP9.

26 Dec 2011