UK’s NICE Recommends AbbVie’s Severe Arthritis Drug

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended AbbVie’s Rinvoq (upadacitinib) for National Health Service use for treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis.

The recommendation was supported by results from a late-stage clinical trial that showed the drug induced remission in some patients when the standard of care failed.

The once-daily oral tablet inhibits cells that make the immune system overact and cause inflammation that can damage joints.

An estimated 400,000 people in the UK suffer from the autoimmune disease that has no current cure.