EMA recommends approval of tofacitinib for rheumatoid arthritis A drug to treat people with rheumatoid arthritis is now being recommended for use across the EU – four years after the same product was refused a licence because of safety concerns.…
EMA recommends approval for oral rheumatoid arthritis drug The European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that baricitinib (Olumiant; Eli Lilly), an oral therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is granted a marketing authorisation in the EU.…
DMARDs do not increase post-surgical infection risk Rates of post-surgical infections did not increase for patients taking disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and biologics, researchers discover.…
Spending on medicines rises by 8% in England NHS spending on drugs in England increased by 8% to £16.8bn in 2015–2016 from £15.5bn in 2014–2015, which was largely driven by spending on medicines by hospitals, a report by NHS Digital shows. The £16.8bn spent on medicines in 2015–2016 was made up of &pou…
Osteoporosis: moving beyond bisphosphonates Bisphosphonates are the mainstay of osteoporosis treatment but as more is elucidated about the underlying pathology of the condition, new drug targets are being investigated.…
Anti-inflammatory drugs could treat symptoms of depression Anti-cytokine drugs typically prescribed to treat inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, can also improve symptoms of depression, according to new research.…
Rheumatoid arthritis patients with no response to first anti-TNF more likely to respond to non-TNF biologic Out of 300 patients with no response to treatment with an anti-TNF therapy, those given a non-TNF biologic were more likely to have a better response compared with those given another anti-TNF.…
Anti-inflammatory drugs linked with higher risk of heart failure High doses of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can double the risk of being admitted to hospital for heart failure. …
Legalise cannabis for medical use, MPs say An influential committee of MPs has called on the government to make cannabis legal for medical use. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Drug Policy Reform wants the drug reclassified from its Schedule 1 — which puts it in the same class as ecstasy and LSD — to Sched…
Advising patients on prevention and management of sporting injuries in the pharmacy How to identify common sporting injuries and provide specific advice to patients on their effective management, including the role of over-the-counter pharmacological treatments, as well as when to refer for specialist assessment and treatment.…