NICE ruling on psoriatic arthritis drugs ‘a welcome move’

A medical charity has welcomed a recent ruling by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to continue to recommend a range of drugs for psoriatic arthritis patients.

The Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance (PAPAA) has responded positively to NICE's decision to back the use of Remicade, Enbrel and Humira among those with active and progressive psoriatic arthritis.

David Chandler, chief executive of the PAPAA, said this shows the treatments are still considered a cost-effective therapy for a condition which can often be expensive to remedy.

He also welcomed NICE's decision to consider the treatment's effectiveness against psoriasis even when efficacy against psoriatic arthritis is not shown, saying this will be seen as good news by patients.

However, he added long-term data will need to be collated before the drugs' safety and efficacy profiles can be confirmed.

"It has to be remembered that these treatments are still relatively new and are a complete change to all previous treatments used in psoriatic arthritis," he explained.