tocilizumab
April 30, 2013
Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Actemra (tocilizumab) for the treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA). The medicine can be used in children two years of age and older with active disease. Actemra can be given alone or in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in people with PJIA.
PJIA is a form of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), also known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease of childhood.1 JIA affects approximately 100 in every 100,000 children2 of which PJIA accounts for around 30 percent.3 PJIA is characterised by inflammation in five or more joints within the first six months of the disease and most commonly affects the small joints in the body such as the hands and feet.3
“Polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis is a rare debilitating condition in children that worsens over time,” said…
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