Enbrel® (etanercept) has Efficacy and
Safety Data for up to a Decade of
Continuous Use
Taken from NRAS magazine, Winter 2008
NRAS
In this analysis presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, the safety profile remained consistent with continuous etanercept use for up to 10 years.
Data from two long-term studies presented at ACR showed that etanercept provided improvement in the signs and symptoms of RA that was maintained for up to 10 years in adult patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) or long-standing RA (LRA). Approximately one-third of people who started either study continued on etanercept throughout the decade of use.
"RA may pose serious challenges to remaining physically active and participating in the normal daily activities, such as grocery shopping or walking up a flight of stairs, that many people take for granted," said Dr Genovese of Stanford University Medical Centre. "The study findings showed that in addition to managing the symptoms of RA, treatment with etanercept helped patients to remain active up to 10 years.”
The data being presented at ACR also showed that the rates and types of serious adverse events and serious infections reported in patients treated with etanercept for up to 10 years have remained consistent with what was reported in the control populations during the double-blind phases of the studies.