The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) launched an informative video at the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) conference to help rheumatoid arthritis sufferers understand upcoming potential changes to their medication.
Biologic medicines for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune conditions revolutionised treatment in the early 2000s. Many of these medicines are now coming out of patent, which will enable other pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring their own versions of the medicines to market – biosimilars. The medications will not be exactly the same but are extremely similar to the original drugs on offer.
For many people currently being treated on biologic medicines this will mean a potential change in their treatment regimen. Therefore NRAS has put together an educational video to answer peoples’ queries and ensure everyone is aware of these new developments.
Biologic and biosimilar treatments are currently a very hot topic in the world of immunology and can cause some confusion when people come to change between the two. In the video, Ailsa Bosworth, NRAS Founder and CEO, interviews NRAS Chief Medical Advisor Professor, Peter Taylor, on the topic.
Ailsa commented: “For approximately 20% of the 690,000 people living with RA in the UK, who have the severest form of the disease, biologic treatments have offered far better control of their disease. Therefore, whenever any change presents itself there are always lots of questions from our members.
The video is aimed at anyone currently suffering from RA and will hopefully answer a large number of their queries and both help and educate them. Viewers will undoubtedly have different levels of knowledge, understanding and indeed personal experience of biologics and biosimilars ranging from zero knowledge to considerable. Our aim is to help them make a more informed transition.”
There are four key areas that will be explored in the video – these are based on questions that people with RA have asked NRAS over the past year and have also come from the work that they have done with the Oxford Academic Health Science Network on this subject. These include:
The impact on patients, particularly changing treatment programmes that switch patients who are on an originator product to a biosimilar
- How biosimilars sit within the regulatory process
- How will safety data be collected?
- How income saved from switching might be used to improve patient outcomes and services
The video is available to watch here: https://www.videum.com/video/switching-to-biosimilars-a-conversation-wit…
For further information on NRAS and for further advice on the change, visit www.nras.org.uk
