Listing of Pharmaceutical Benefits (NHL) - Schedule 4 part 1

Severe psoriatic arthritis

Continuing treatment with subcutaneous form or switching from intravenous form to subcutaneous form

Must be treated by a rheumatologist; or

Must be treated by a clinical immunologist with expertise in the management of psoriatic arthritis; AND

Patient must have received this drug as their most recent course of PBS-subsidised biological medicine treatment for this condition; AND

The treatment must have both: (i) provided the patient with an adequate response with the preceding supply, (ii) been assessed for response after at least 12 weeks of therapy; AND

Patient must not receive more than 24 weeks of treatment under this restriction; AND

Patient must be at least 18 years of age.

An adequate response to treatment is defined as:

an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) no greater than 25 mm per hour or a C-reactive protein (CRP) level no greater than 15 mg per L or either marker reduced by at least 20% from baseline; and

either of the following:

(a) a reduction in the total active (swollen and tender) joint count by at least 50% from baseline, where baseline is at least 20 active joints; or

(b) a reduction in the number of the following major active joints, from at least 4, by at least 50%:

(i) elbow, wrist, knee and/or ankle (assessed as swollen and tender); and/or

(ii) shoulder and/or hip (assessed as pain in passive movement and restriction of passive movement, where pain and limitation of movement are due to active disease and not irreversible damage such as joint destruction or bony overgrowth).

The same indices of disease severity used to establish baseline at the commencement of treatment with each initial treatment application must be used to determine response for all subsequent continuing treatments.

The measurement of response to the prior course of therapy must have been conducted following a minimum of 12 weeks of therapy with this drug and must be documented in the patient's medical records.

If a patient fails to demonstrate a response to treatment with this drug they will not be eligible to receive further PBS-subsidised treatment with this drug for this condition. Serious adverse reaction of a severity resulting in the necessity for permanent withdrawal of treatment is not considered as a treatment failure.

A patient may re-trial this drug after a minimum of 5 years have elapsed between the date the last prescription for a PBS-subsidised biological medicine was approved in this cycle and the date of the first application under a new cycle under the Initial 3 treatment restriction.