Medication which can relieve the suffering of countless rheumatoid arthritis patients has been given the green light to be prescribed for more NHS patients throughout England and Wales.

The drug – RoActemra – is now being advocated for sufferers that have not responded to normal treatment methods, and this is the first time it has been sanctioned for NHS patients within England and Wales that have moderate / severe rheumatoid arthritis and are in the early stages of the disease. The drug (also known as Tocilizumab) has, however, been readily available for early use within Scotland for 2 years.

Currently in England and Wales RoActemra is in use by just 1,200 patients who are at later stages of development. This judgement by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, will mean that around 40,000 additional patients will become eligible for the treatment. RoActemra currently costs £9000 for a year’s treatment, however a discount structure has been agreed upon with producers Roche.

Trial statistics indicate that nearly half of affected individuals on RoActemra will be in remission after 12 months, weighed against 8% using a popular drug known as methotrexate.

RoActemra is an antibody which inhibits the activity of interleukin 6 (IL-6), an essential molecule in the immune system that supports numerous inflammatory functions.
As RoActemra functions in a totally different way to established medications it may succeed in certain patients where other drugs have ceased to work.