RESEARCH - A decade of Humira trials shows it to be safe in a broad range of diseases

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A Decade of Adalimumab Trials Shows It to Be Safe in a Broad Range of Diseases

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 02 - Ten years of clinical trials have

shown adalimumab to be safe for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,

psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease,

psoriasis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, according to a report in

the December ls of the Rheumatic Diseases.

" TNF blocking agents - in this case represented by adalimumab - are

generally safe, especially...where no severe comorbid conditions exist

and concomitant therapy does not include steroids, " Dr. Gerd R.

Burmester, from Free University and Humboldt University of Berlin,

told Reuters Health by email.

Dr. Burmester and colleagues evaluated safety data from the earliest

clinical trials of adalimumab in 1997 through 2007. Overall, they

analyzed 36 global clinical trials involving 19,041 patients with

these six diseases.

The most serious adverse events were infections, the authors report,

with rates (depending on year) ranging from 4.6 to 5.1 infections per

100 patient-years.

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Read the full article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/713307

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