Apremilast and PsA – Phase III Results Robustly Positive

General
1

Here's info on a new PsA drug. Anyone know anything about this med?

http://www.musculoskeletalnetwork.com/rheumatic-diseases/content/article/1145622/2146568

2

I don't know much about it, but those results look as good as the results from any of the biologics. It'll be good to have another option, even better cause we won't have to jab ourselves.

3

Apremilast, a thalidomide analog, is not biological. Nearly half the studies Have been withdrawn as the efficacy was not being shown. Its performance is behind that of Biologics but it holds some promise.

I'm old enough to remember thalidomide............ I can't get too excited. Knowing its previous track record this is one time I would truly FEAR side effects.

4

Thanks for the info Lamb - how do you know so much? Where do you get all you info? I want to be as informed as you are !

5

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11947933/1/new-data-improves-sales-outlook-for-celgenes-apremilast.html

This is interesting and it may explain the early disappointing results. Look at the last paragraph:

While there are a lot of data, I want to focus on results from the Palace-1 trial in psoriatic arthritis. In particular, for the 20 mg dose of apremilast, the ACR-20 score (a common measure of response) increased from 31 percent at 12 weeks to 38 percent at 24 weeks to 63 percent at 52 weeks. This increase in efficacy came without any increase in adverse events. The 30 mg apremilast dose saw a similar increase in ACR-20 response from 41 percent at 12 weeks to 47 percent at 24 weeks to 55 percent at 52 weeks.

It's not as effective as a biologic but over 52 weeks it's very close.