In practice: Anti-TNF biosimilars in rheumatic disease

Episode 2: A window of opportunity – Timely treatment of RA

Professor Peter Taylor and Professor Jérôme Avouac discuss the ‘window of opportunity’ to optimise treatment outcomes for people with rheumatoid arthritis, and how access to biosimilars can facilitate timely intervention.

Meet the experts

Professor Peter Taylor

Professor Peter Taylor holds the Norman Collison Chair of Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford, UK, and is a Fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford. He is the Director of Experimental Rheumatology at the Botnar Research Centre within the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences. He is also Chief Medical Advisor to the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, a patient-led charity that works to support people with rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile inflammatory arthritis.

Professor Taylor has over 30 years of experience in clinical trial design and international leadership in studies of biologic and small molecular therapies in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, including the earliest seminal trails of anti-TNF and anti-interleukin-6 receptor therapy.

Disclosures

Professor Taylor has received research grants from Celgene and Galapagos, and consultation fees from AbbVie, Biogen, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, Nordic Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and UCB.

Professor Jérôme Avouac

Professor Jérôme Avouac is Professor of Rheumatology at Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. He has been the principal investigator for more than 20 phase 3/4 clinical trials and observational studies in rheumatoid arthritis and is the coordinator of the French MAJIK registry of patients treated with JAK inhibitors for inflammatory rheumatism.

Professor Avouac’s research interests are focused on the vascular aspects of inflammatory rheumatic diseases and animal models of inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Disclosures

Professor Avouac has received honoraria from AbbVie, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD, Nordic Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche-Chugai, Sandoz, and Sanofi. He has also received research grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Novartis (Dreamer), and Pfizer (Passerelle).