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If you're taking Humira you may want to know about this...

kiny

Well-known member
I always use infliximab when I talk about TNF-blockers since it's more documented than humira. It's also more effective. Incredibly small changes in a biologic can produce very different results. The best example is etanercept, TNF-alpha blocker, completely ineffective for crohn's disease.

I really hope all these 10 year patents of Humira and Infliximab expire soon (they're expiring beginning of 2015), so the market to better drugs is opened again.

Can't believe they gave Janssens another 6 months extra on their infliximab patent, it was going to expire in 2014 normally.

Vedolizumab completely failed, it was hardly better than placebo in trials. One of the biggest failures in CD. CD is not just about inflammation, it's a very complex disease, a lot of medication that works for autoimmune disease is completely ineffective for CD.

Chemokine receptors and interleukin blockers will keep failing too, infliximab and it's derivatives are the only biologic that works for CD, all the rest has been shown to be useless. Crohn's disease has a very restricted amount of medication that works.

There will be new drugs that are going to target AIEC and other bacteria found in CD, there is too much momentum behind AIEC. Autoimmunity is dead in CD, it's only a viable explanation for UC, not CD. Behind the TNF-alpha is a virus or bacteria. It's not inconceivable that infliximab is acting like an antibacterial agent in CD.

Dalziel, who described the first cases of CD in 1913, will be right.
 
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Kev

Senior Member
There have been ads running about treating IBD with this drug... I know these appear natonally here in Canada, but I suspect they originate/air in the US as well. One shows a woman walking in circles, noting where all the public washrooms are.. and the other is virtually the same, except its a man. Now, when these first started airing, the voiceover mentioned a couple of key things.. specifically 2 separate trials, and success rates.. However, recently, these ads are airing without mentioning the number of trials, AND without the success rates... which were (to my ear, anyway) suprisingly low. Now, it could be they just edited a 60 second spot down to 30, and this material was cut so it would run in 30... Or, it may be... someone tweaked to the facts that telling the whole world out there that there were only 2 trials for treating IBD, and the success rates were relatively low.. was a bad idea. Cutting this info out really didn't amount to a lie... just an omission. Or it may be just my suspicious nature. But it sure seems like way more than just a coincidence. They did keep in all the side effect disclaimers, but I guess omitting them would be illegal.. or at least expose them to ligation, lawsuits, etc..

If I were on this drug, I'd be keeping a daily diary ... when started, who prescribed it, and any/all side effects, issues, etc.. Then, I'd sit back and wait for the lawfirm ads of the lawyers behind the class action lawsuits I expect will be launched someday.. soon??
 
Kev, for Crohn's Disease, Humira conducted three trials, the Classic I, the CHARM and the GAIN for FDA approval on a standard drug(that just means it is already used and they are testing it for use in another disease or way). The trials are set up to prove efficacy and safety for FDA approval, since that is the goal and there is a set protocol.

Done at hospitals and research centers around the country, clinical trials are conducted in phases. Phase 1 trials try to determine dosing, document how a drug is metabolized and excreted, and identify acute side effects. Usually, a small number of healthy volunteers (between 20 and 80) are used in Phase 1 trials.

Phase 2 trials include more participants (about 100-300) who have the disease or condition that the product potentially could treat. In Phase 2 trials, researchers seek to gather further safety data and preliminary evidence of the drug's beneficial effects (efficacy), and they develop and refine research methods for future trials with this drug. If the Phase 2 trials indicate that the drug may be effective--and the risks are considered acceptable, given the observed efficacy and the severity of the disease--the drug moves to Phase 3.

In Phase 3 trials, the drug is studied in a larger number of people with the disease (approximately 1,000-3,000). This phase further tests the product's effectiveness, monitors side effects and, in some cases, compares the product's effects to a standard treatment, if one is already available. As more and more participants are tested over longer periods of time, the less common side effects are more likely to be revealed.

Sometimes, Phase 4 trials are conducted after a product is already approved and on the market to find out more about the treatment's long-term risks, benefits, and optimal use, or to test the product in different populations of people, such as children.
source

There can be severe side effects with Humira or any of the other TNF-alpha blockers like Kiny mentioned. Hopefully, safer more effective drugs are around the corner.
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
I will say Ds had very mild but face rashes / scalp rashes and skin peeling on his fingers and hands while on remicade.
since he has been off remicade it stopped.
Kinda hard to see the same problem ( although worse) from humira.
 
MLP, I thought of your post about DS having finger peel when I watched the vid as well. I hope he can get some relief without any side effects.
 

PsychoJane

Moderator
I've had induced psoriasis from humira in places no one would like to think about, butterfly rash like this woman, arthritic pain and various unexplained incomforts while on it. The blood tests were off track, doctor would rather keep me on it and see if it would settle.... It got better, but was there some other side effects acting up elsewhere I could not see them??? Oddly enough, they were probably not registered as reported side effects to the company. Possible "this" and possible "that" are what is listed in my file. I doubt these "possible" get counted in.

I've put people on path of possibly induced side-effects many time on here... For how many was it the cause? Even though I recognize the treatment is beneficial for many, I deplore the fact I was not told or did not read something along the line that it "arthritis, psoriasitic lesions, DILE, etc are relatively frequent". I would have love to have a number on these things.... not only that but how many have not reported these side effects too. I mean, getting dry skin does not scare everyone like me. I don't know... these stories makes me mad. We are already struggling with the fact our lives are going out the windows at time, I wish we could have the peace of mind that comes with legit data and where there is lot of money involved... I can't get the clear feeling that everything is fine... It is unfortunate. Sorry... I had to vent.
 
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Kev

Senior Member
Odd. They did 3 studies, but in their ads they mentioned just 2. An oversight, or... hmmmm, my conspiracy theory gene is going into overdrive. Maybe just a hiccup. Or a mistake in the written material the ad agency had to work with (OK, that one is a bit of a stretch). I haven't searched for these ads online... and, I don't use Humira, so please feel free to go digging. Just that, it seems the airwaves abound with their product spots for both Crohns and Arthritis (totally different ads, same product). And, both high end productions.
 
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