Remicade treatment improves productivity of patients in study

Let's go right to the Centocor press release:

Investigators reported today at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting that patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving REMICADE (infliximab) induction and maintenance therapy experienced significant improvements in productivity at week 10, which were sustained through week 50.

This will not be a surprise to people with psoriasis. When psoriasis is flaring, or is "moderate to severe," it is often harder to work hard (or play hard). Then, when a treatment works, patients often feel better both physically and emotionally and productivity rises.

But while that might seem so obvious as to make this study a waste of money; in fact, given the problems many patients have getting their health insurers to cover psoriasis treatments, it will be good to have some data to suggest the economic value of improving the health of people with psoriasis.

Centocor also presented additional data today further confirming that Remicade performs well for patients with severe psoriasis, as well as on nail psoriasis, which is hard to treat and takes time to show results.

You can access our free podcast on Remicade here.