Clinicians still seek the best uses for apremilast
Finding potential in off-label use
“This drug may have been brought to market for psoriasis, but I think its utility is so much more in other diseases where inflammation is an important mechanism,” said Neal Bhatia, MD, director of clinical dermatology at Therapeutics Clinical Research in San Diego. “Most of my use of apremilast is off-label for atopic dermatitis, for lichen planus, and I’ve tried it in a lot of patients where it has worked for discoid lupus. There’s so much potential for apremilast,” said Dr. Bhatia.
Dr. Leonardi remained unpersuaded.
“Your glass of water is half full, mine is half empty in this case,” he replied. “This drug has been approved now for at least 3 years, and we are still looking at the occasional favorable case report that flies up. I’ve got to say this drug is having a hard time finding a place outside of psoriasis, but we’ll all see.”
Dr. Leonardi reported having financial relationships with more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies, including Celgene, which markets apremilast. Dr. Stein Gold, too, has received research grants from and serves as a consultant to numerous drug companies, including Celgene. Dr. Bhatia declared having financial relationships with more than two dozen.
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