News

German researchers reported at EULAR this week that patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal-related pain are increasingly turning to opioids and continue to take them even after the pain subsides.

COVID-19 was center-stage at this year's EULAR meeting. Dr. Pedro Machado, a rheumatologist with the University College London and chair of EULAR's Standing Committee for Epidemiology and Health Service Research shared the results of a study on patients with rheumatic disease who contracted COVID-19. He and his team found that patients taking a higher dose of prednisone, had an increased of being hospitalized. But patients receiving TNF blockers were less likely to be hospitalized. In this interview, Dr. Machado talks with us about the findings.

Eli Lilly announced this week that Taltz (ixekizumab) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). And, this week during the EULAR annual meeting, the company is reporting results from the 52-week SPIRIT phase 3b/4 trial for psoriatic arthritis comparing ixekizumab to adalimumab.

Rheumatic disease patients treated with anti-TNF therapy and who contracted COVID-19, were hospitalized less often than patients treated with glucocorticoids, shows an observational study presented on Wednesday at the European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) annual meeting-which is being held virtually this week from the homes of more than 18,000 registered attendees.