Jose Marques Lopes PhD,  —

José is a science news writer with a PhD in Neuroscience from Universidade of Porto, in Portugal. He has also studied Biochemistry at Universidade do Porto and was a postdoctoral associate at Weill Cornell Medicine, in New York, and at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. His work has ranged from the association of central cardiovascular and pain control to the neurobiological basis of hypertension, and the molecular pathways driving Alzheimer’s disease.

Articles by Jose Marques Lopes

Stopping Infliximab Can Cause Relapses in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients, Study Says

Stopping treatment with infliximab (brand names, Remsima, Remicade) can lead to relapses in people with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who are in stable clinical remission, according to a 12-month study. Reintroduction of infliximab treatment is safe; however, it does not result in the same clinical response prior to treatment withdrawal in a significant…

Renflexis Now Reimbursed in British Columbia for Ankylosing Spondylitis, Other Indications

British Columbia is now reimbursing ankylosing spondylitis treatment Renflexis (infliximab-abda) under its public drug plan, according to Merck Canada. Besides adults with ankylosing spondylitis, the reimbursement — effective Aug. 21 — covers all other approved indications. Those include treatment of adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis…

NICE Recommends Simponi for Severe Non-Radiographical AS in England, Wales

Treatment with Merck’s Simponi (golimumab) is now recommended for patients with severe non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axial SpA) in England and Wales. Nr-axial SpA and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are collectively called axial spondyloarthritis. The term Nr-axial SpA was originally used to define cases of AS that do not exhibit radiographic evidence…

EU Approves Cimzia for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women with a Rheumatic Disease

The European Union has expanded its approval of the rheumatic disease therapy UCB’s Cimzia t0 include women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. UCB’s treatment becomes the first anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy to cover these patients. The label change was approved by the European Medicines Agency. TNF is a pro-inflammatory cytokine, or molecule…

Novartis Initiates Phase 3 Trial in AS Comparing Cosentyx to Adalimumab Biosimilar

Novartis recently initiated a Phase 3 clinical trial comparing its FDA-approved therapy Cosentyx (secukinumab) with GP2017 — an adalimumab biosimilar — in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. The trial, called SURPASS (NCT03259074), is a head-to-head study testing the benefit of Cosentyx to the biosimilar GP2017 in reducing the progression of spinal…