Question
Over the last year, I have tried all 3 available Anti TNF drugs. I was on Embrel for 6 months, tried Remicade, but had a reaction& had to stop. I have now been on Humira for 6 months, the last 3 months on a weekly dose. These drugs are hailed as ‘miracle drugs’, yet they have all failed to work for me. When most people get such an improvement,why have i have failed to respond?. I can’t take methotrexate, is this why it hasn’t worked? I have heard about other drugs Ritximab & Abatacept which target B cells;Are these licenced for use for RA in the UK?
Answer
Unfortunately, there are patients that fail to respond to anti-TNF agents, and even the combination of anti-TNF drugs and MTX. The clinical trials suggest that about 20-30% of patients may fail to reach a modest 20% improvement with the combination af anti-TNF drugs and MTX. To my knowledge, abatacept and rituximab are not licensed in the UK (or US) for RA although abatacept will soon be in the US.
