BIOBETTER DRUGS IN DERMATOLOGY – “Biobetter drugs represent a new concept and an important evolution for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in dermatology such as psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis – points out Francesco CusanoPresident of ADOI – Association of Italian Hospital Dermatologists and Director of UOC Dermatology AO San Pio, Benevento – We have been using infliximab for some time, but until now it has always been administered intravenously. The new opportunity to also administer it subcutaneously will allow for enormous improvements. Biological drugs for psoriasis and arthritis often use other anti-TNF alphas, which have a broad spectrum of action and are administered subcutaneously, but are less effective than infliximab. The latter, therefore, now that it can in turn be administered subcutaneously, should be considered the drug of first choice. Infliximab is also very competitive against more modern drugs, such as anti-interleukins. In addition, infliximab is also highly effective against inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), which often affect patients with psoriasis or arthritis: for this reason it is even more a candidate for first choice drug”.
LOGISTIC AND ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES – In addition to the clinical advantages, there are also the opportunities from an economic point of view. “If biosimilars for the NHS already involve a lower cost than originators, biobetters also have a positive effect on the patient’s indirect costs and quality of life – he adds Francesco Cusano – The subcutaneous formulation, in fact, allows you not to go to the hospital for therapy, but to be able to simply perform it at home. This means for clinicians the possibility of freeing up resources within their hospitals, while patients avoid wasting time, with fewer days of work lost, less commitment to care, lower social cost of the disease”.
PSORIASIS AND ARTHRITIS IN ITALY – In Italy there are over 2 million patients with psoriasis – about 3% of the population, while there are 300 thousand patients with psoriatic arthritis, although there are different degrees of severity and there is an alternation of remission and exacerbation phases. Approximately one third of patients with psoriasis are affected by a severe form and amenable to systemic therapy. Infliximab, manufactured by South Korea’s Celltrion Healthcare, is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who have failed to respond to or are contraindicated or intolerant to other systemic treatments including cyclosporine, methotrexate or PUVA (psoralen + ultraviolet A). For the treatment of psoriatic arthritis, active and progressive infliximab is indicated in adult patients when the response to previous DMARD treatments has been inadequate.