\n The drug, infliximab, was administered at the John Radcliffe Hospital, part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), on May 12.\n<\/p>\n
\n This is the first new drug approved for this patient group in more than 50 years.\n<\/p>\n
\n Simone Hunter, the first patient at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) to receive the drug, said: “I am excited about the possibility of reducing the number of medications I need.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I have been on various immunosuppressants for a long time, and the side effects have started to surface.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The commissioning of this drug is very welcome news.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I have always felt well cared for by the team at OUH.\n<\/p>\n
\n “They have been amazing and accessible, and I have great faith in them.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I am truly grateful for their hard work in making this treatment a reality.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Sarcoidosis is where the immune system overreacts, causing inflammation and granuloma formation (immune nodules). This happens mainly in the lungs but can also include other organs.\n<\/p>\n
\n It can affect people of all ages and can be particularly severe in some cases.\n<\/p>\n
\n Patients with severe sarcoidosis often require multiple immunosuppressants, which can increase the risk of infections and further complications.\n<\/p>\n
\n Infliximab, a biologic therapy used to treat inflammatory conditions such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis, has now been commissioned by NHS England (NHSE) for use in pulmonary sarcoidosis.\n<\/p>\n
\n Supported by NICE, it will be used as an unlicensed\/off-label medicine for the patients after a national commissioning process began in 2016.\n<\/p>\n
\n Professor Ling-Pei Ho, consultant in respiratory medicine at OUH and lead of the Oxford Sarcoidosis Service, had a hand in the commissioning of the drug, by chairing the first NHSE working policy group and contributing to the second.\n<\/p>\n
\n Infliximab neutralises a protein called TNF-\u03b1, that is produced by overactive immune cells in diseases like sarcoidosis. This then reduces the need for broad immunosuppressants to manage the condition.\n<\/p>\n
\n Professor Ho said: “We are very pleased to be able to offer a new medicine for our patients with severe lung sarcoidosis.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Infliximab offers the potential to reduce reliance on broad immunosuppressants in patients with the progressive and destructive form of lung sarcoidosis.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Professor Andrew Brent, chief medical officer at OUH, said: “This is fantastic news for our patients with lung sarcoidosis.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The commissioning of this drug is a great example of our teams’ dedication to continually improving patient care.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It stands as a testament to their unwavering commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The drug, infliximab, was administered at the John Radcliffe Hospital, part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-109959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114525178571913091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}