• More than 60 different autoimmune diseases currently affect millions of people world wide.
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the commonest autoimmune diseases, affecting over 21 million people worldwide.
• 30-40% of RA patients do not have adequate control with or are intolerant to current biologic therapies. 60-80% of RA patients do not achieve control over major signs and symptoms.
• The Roche Group has invested in a broad autoimmune disease portfolio and pipeline containing clinically differentiated compounds.
• Two first-in-class molecules (MabThera/Rituxan, already on the market; Actemra, in phase III) with a novel mechanism of action provide benefits to patients who do not respond adequately to current therapeutic options, or for whom these therapies may be a best first choice in the future.
• MabThera/Rituxan is the first and only selective B cell therapy for RA and provides lasting treatment success.
• Actemra has demonstrated superiority over conventional disease-modifying anti rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and has significantly improved pain and other symptoms in Japanese monotherapy trials.
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Background Information

• Autoimmune Diseases and Rheumatoid Arthritis
  Early diagnosis and effective new treatment options for patients - PDF in English, German, French and Spanish
• Media Briefing 'Autoimmune diseases — when the body fights itself'
   

Available images

• Rheumatoid arthritis particularly affects the small joints of the hands and feet
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• The knuckle joint shown here is inflamed and swollen, and the range of movement and strength of the joint are greatly reduced compared with a healthy joint
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• The disease process starts with inflammation of the lining of the joint - the synovium - and is followed by destruction of the underlying cartilage, and then the bone itself
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• The cycle of inflammation. B cells communicate via cytokines with other inflammatory cells, such as T cells and macrophages, to maintain and amplify the cycle of inflammation
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• Rituximab binds specifically to a cell-surface marker known as CD20, found on developing B cells and mature B cells, but not on stem cells or plasma cells. When rituximab binds to CD20, it triggers mechanisms that result in targeting this select B cell population
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• Rituximab targets B cells
  JPEG, 274 KB
   

Video

• Rheumatoid Arthritis - an autoimmune disease
  QuickTime / Real
   

All photo and/or video material is provided courtesy of Roche, Copyright F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.