RoActemra (tocilizumab), a novel biologic treatment launched

for rheumatoid arthritis

Taken from NRAS magazine, Winter 2009

In October a new drug called RoActemra (tocilizumab) was launched for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tocilizumab is called an Interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antagonist and it has been shown to achieve clinical remission rates almost six times higher than the current standard of care, the DMARD methotrexate (47% versus 8%). When tocilizumab is used in combination with methotrexate, joint damage is halted in 85% of people with RA compared to just 67% treated with methotrexate alone. Until now, the only option for people with RA after DMARD failure was to be given anti-TNF inhibitors. IL-6 inhibition offers a different approach for treating RA.

Professor Paul Emery, Professor of Rheumatology at University of Leeds, and one of the investigators involved in the study of RoActemra, commented: “This is certainly one of the most exciting therapies to have emerged in the last decade. IL-6 receptor inhibition is an innovative approach to the treatment of RA and RoActemra is a much anticipated addition to the armoury of treatments needed to combat the condition. RA is an unrelenting disease and it is vital that patients have options available to them when they are no longer responding to, or can no longer tolerate their current treatment.”

Tocilizumab has been studied in the largest phase III clinical trial programme for any biologic drug to date, with 4,200 patients in seven clinical trials. It has also been trialled in studies in 38 centres in the UK.

Tocilizumab is generally well tolerated and the overall safety profile is consistent in all studies. The most common adverse reactions reported in clinical studies included upper respiratory tract infection, headache and hypertension. The serious adverse reactions reported in clinical studies include serious infections, gastrointestinal perforations and hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis.