NEWS


NEW BIOLOGIC TREATMENT APPROVED IN SCOTLAND FOR HIDRADENITIS SUPPURATIVA


Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) is now available in Scotland, following positive advice from the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).


It is licensed for adults with active moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) who have responded inadequately to conventional systemic HS therapy.


Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) is the first and only fully human biologic that directly inhibits interleukin-17A, an important cytokine involved in the inflammation of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) and hidradenitis suppurativa.


HS affects approximately 2% of the Scottish population, and on average, it takes 10 years for people living with HS to receive a correct diagnosis,


resulting in disease progression which significantly impacts their quality of life.


Chief Operating Officer at the British Skin Foundation, Phil Brady said, “We are delighted that the SMC has decided to make Secukinumab available to eligible people in Scotland living with HS. Those living with the condition often experience debilitating pain, which can make everyday tasks such as dressing, bathing and sitting at a desk chair really challenging.”


Consultant Dermatologist, Scotland Dr Fiona Craig added, “Until now, there has only been one approved treatment for HS (adalimumab), which may not be suitable for everyone. The approval of secukinumab for HS by the SMC is a positive step for sufferers of this condition and provides physicians in Scotland with a second treatment option that has been shown to reduce disease activity and improve the quality of life for patients with HS.”


GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH COULD REVOLUTIONISE BOWEL CANCER TREATMENT


A groundbreaking series of discoveries on tumours by scientists in Queen’s University Belfast and the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Scotland Institute in Glasgow could revolutionise treatment for bowel cancer patients .


Scientists identified previously unseen molecular patterns in tumour tissue that indicates risk of disease progression and treatment response. It has been suggested that these insights into tumour biology may be used to deliver a more effective personalised medicine approach for patients with bowel (colorectal) cancer.


Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with around 42,900 new bowel cancer cases and around 16,600 bowel cancer deaths annually. It is thought up to one in 20 people will develop bowel cancer in their lifetime, with around 80 percent of cases happening in people aged 60 and over.


Cancer Research UK Research Information Lead, Dr Sam Godfrey said, “Cancer is perhaps the most complex disease we face, and no single treatment will ever beat it. Cancer Research UK is delighted to have funded this innovative research, an important step towards giving doctors the insight to see which therapy can best exploit an individual cancer’s weakness. Research like this could lead to better and more precise treatments for the thousands of people diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in Scotland.”


To ensure that scientists and clinicians around the world can immediately access these data and test this new subtyping approach, the team have released a freely available classification tool that allows the Belfast- developed approach to be used on tumour samples in any research lab.


Dr Sudhir Malla, Postdoctoral Research Fellow from the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen’s University Belfast and first author of the study commented, “By developing an unrestricted classification tool for the cancer research community, it means that researchers from around the world can reproduce our finding on data emerging from their own collections of tumour samples, to identify biological pathways that cancer cells switch on or off to control their movement, growth and response to their environment.”


scottishpharmacist.com 3


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