EACCME®-accredited podcast series

Professor Peter Taylor and guests discuss the use of anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) biosimilars in rheumatic disease, focusing on how to get the best from biosimilars in the rheumatology clinic.

This EACCME^®-accredited podcast series is designed for rheumatologists and all healthcare professionals involved in the care of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

After listening to all four episodes, there is a total of 1 CME point available based on successful completion of a quiz and evaluation form. You will automatically be directed between episodes, and then to the quiz. To pass the course and receive your CME credit and certificate, you must achieve a score of 60% or above.

Episode 1: Placing biosimilars in the first line for RA

“The key words are knowledge, communication and information.” Professor Tore Kvien joins Professor Peter Taylor to discuss the advantages of biosimilars as first-line biological treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and how to overcome patient and physician barriers to prescribing the most cost-effective option.

Episodes 2–4 will become accessible after completion of episode 1 and will cover:

• The importance of timely treatment in rheumatoid arthritis
• The impact of early treatment on long-term outcomes
• Non-medical switching in rheumatology

Meet the experts

Professor Peter Taylor

Professor Peter Taylor holds the Norman Collison Chair of Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford, UK, and is a Fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford. He is the Director of Experimental Rheumatology at the Botnar Research Centre within the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences. He is also Chief Medical Advisor to the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, a patient-led charity that works to support people with rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile inflammatory arthritis.

Professor Taylor has over 30 years of experience in clinical trial design and international leadership in studies of biologic and small molecular therapies in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, including the earliest seminal trails of anti-TNF and anti-interleukin-6 receptor therapy.

Disclosures

Professor Taylor has received research grants from Celgene and Galapagos, and consultation fees from AbbVie, Biogen, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, Nordic Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and UCB.

Professor Tore Kvien

Professor Tore Kvien has been Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Oslo, Norway, since 1997 (emeritus from 2020). He currently holds a part-time position as senior researcher and research advisor in the hospital. Professor Kvien was the principal investigator of the Norwegian government-funded NOR-SWITCH trial, which was published in The Lancet in 2017.

Disclosures

Over the past 2 years, Professor Kvien has received speaking fees from Grünenthal, Janssen, Sandoz, and UCB, consultancy fees from AbbVie, Galapagos, Janssen, Pfizer, and Sandoz, and research funding to Diakonhjemmet Hospital from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB.

Professor Jérôme Avouac

Professor Jérôme Avouac is Professor of Rheumatology at Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. He has been the principal investigator for more than 20 phase 3/4 clinical trials and observational studies in rheumatoid arthritis and is the coordinator of the French MAJIK registry of patients treated with JAK inhibitors for inflammatory rheumatism.

Professor Avouac’s research interests are focused on the vascular aspects of inflammatory rheumatic diseases and animal models of inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Disclosures

Professor Avouac has received honoraria from AbbVie, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD, Nordic Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche-Chugai, Sandoz, and Sanofi. He has also received research grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Novartis (Dreamer), and Pfizer (Passerelle).

Professor Andra Balanescu

Professor Andra Balanescu is Professor of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, and head of the department of internal medicine and rheumatology at Sf. Maria Hospital, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania.

Her research interests are focused on rheumatoid arthritis (immunohistochemistry of synovial tissue, dendritic cell involvement, biomarkers, treatment), psoriatic arthritis (patient-reported outcomes, pathogenesis, treatment), inflammatory osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. 

Disclosures

Professor Balanescu has received speaker fees and consultancies from AbbVie, Alphasigma, Amgen, Angelini Pharma, AstraZeneca, Berlin Chemie, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Teva, UCB, and Zentiva.

She has been an investigator in clinical trials sponsored by Akros, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, and UCB.

Dr Christopher Holroyd

Dr Christopher Holroyd is a Consultant Rheumatologist at University Hospital Southampton, UK, where he is the clinical lead and leads the biological therapies service. Alongside his clinical work, Dr Holroyd continues to have a keen research interest, predominantly in inflammatory arthritis. Recently, he was working group lead and first author for the BSR Biological Therapies Safety Guidelines.

Disclosures

Dr Holroyd has received speaker fees and consultancies from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB.

Accreditation statement

The In practice: Anti-TNF biosimilars in rheumatic disease made available on https://www.medthority.com/medical-education/in-practice-anti-tnf-biosimilars-in-rheumatic-disease/ and organized by Medthority IME is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME^®) to provide the following CME activity for medical specialists.

Only those e-learning materials that are displayed on the UEMS-EACCME^® website have formally been accredited. Through an agreement between the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes and the American Medical Association, physicians may convert EACCME^® credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Information on the process to convert EACCME^® credit to AMA credit can be found at https://edhub.ama-assn.org/pages/applications