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Acthar Gel may be cost-effective for treating pulmonary sarcoidosis

Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) may be a cost-effective approach relative to standard-of-care glucocorticoid therapy for adults with advanced active pulmonary sarcoidosis. That’s according to an analysis done by the therapy’s developer Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, which found that “the initial high cost of Acthar Gel treatment for sarcoidosis…

Biomarker detects multiple organ involvement at sarcoidosis diagnosis

Blood levels of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) — a common sarcoidosis biomarker — were able to distinguish between newly diagnosed sarcoidosis patients with single versus multiple organ involvement, a study shows. Also, higher blood levels of interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R), an inflammatory marker, were linked with multiple organ involvement. ACE…

Ocular sarcoidosis in patients without symptoms rare in Finland

In Finland, only 2% of sarcoidosis patients without symptoms of eye involvement indeed had ocular sarcoidosis, suggesting that routine eye examinations are not needed in the Finnish patient population. But as the frequency of ocular sarcoidosis varies considerably among people with sarcoidosis worldwide, “more studies are needed to…

XTMAB-16 wins orphan drug status in Europe; Phase 1/2 trial begins

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted XTMAB-16, Xentria‘s investigational antibody therapy, orphan drug designation for sarcoidosis. The status is intended to help speed the development of therapies that would fulfill an unmet health need for people with life-threatening or chronically debilitating rare diseases, which are defined as…