NEWS: FDA Panel Gives Nod to New Arthritis Drug

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FDA Panel Gives Nod to New Arthritis Drug

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Tuesday

recommended approval for a new drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

The drug, abatacept, is designed to be given intravenously and

suppresses part of the immune system. Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb

is recommending it as an alternative for those who don't respond to

existing treatments.

The FDA's Arthritis Advisory Committee voted 7-0 that the benefits of

the drug outweigh any risks, the Associated Press reported.

Abatacept will sell under the trade name Orencia if it wins approval.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a sometimes disabling condition that affects

an estimated 2.1 million Americans, most of them women.

http://www.healthcentral.com/newsdetail/408/1506894.html