NICE Recommends Simponi (golimumab) for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Recommendation of the First Monthly Subcutaneous Injection for use after Treatment Failure with DMARDs Provides More Options for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Patients.

Maidenhead, UK, 13th May 2011 – A new anti-TNF has been recommended today by NICE, bringing the total number of such treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to five in this class. Simponi® (golimumab) is the first once-monthly subcutaneous injection for patients with RA, for use after treatment failure with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

NICE announced in its Final Appraisal Document (FAD) that Simponi, the first once-monthly anti-TNF (anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha), is recommended as an option for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in eligible adults.

The NICE recommendation is welcome news to the 690,000 people suffering from the debilitating symptoms of RA in the UK as it offers a new choice of treatment with a convenient dosing schedule.  Simponi is registered in the UK for the treatment of moderate to severe RA in combination with methotrexate (MTX).  In clinical trials it was shown to relieve symptoms such as swelling and stiffness and an improvement in physical function.  (Successful treatment of RA could have an additional benefit of helping people with RA return to or continue in employment, which is currently estimated to cost the UK economy £8 billion per year. )

Ailsa Bosworth, CEO of NRAS said ‘This is indeed good news as it extends choice and treatment options to patients and clinicians. We don’t know why people react differently to different Anti-TNF drugs and they all work slightly differently so it is important that we have greater options so that more people have the chance to get their disease under control when they have failed on conventional therapy’.

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About NRAS:

• The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) was launched in October 2001 and in a relatively short time has become established as the campaigning voice in the UK for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• NRAS provides a total one-stop-shop with support, information and advocacy for all people in the UK with RA, their carers and families.
• NRAS has a national volunteer network, a group of people with the disease who provide peer to peer support and provide additional resource to help NRAS in many different ways.

For more information, please contact:
Ailsa Bosworth, CEO, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society
Tel: 0845 458 3969