Diplomat to sell Sanofi’s and Regeneron’s rheumatoid arthritis drug in U.S.

Diplomat Pharmacy will sell Sanofi’s and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’s Kevzara (sarilumab), recently approved by the FDA to treat adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Kevzara is an interleukin-6 receptor antagonist. It may be used as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate or other conventional DMARDs, Diplomat said in its press release.

“Sarilumab offers RA patients a new therapeutic choice to assist in the management of their condition,” said Paul Urick, Diplomat president.

RA is a systemic inflammatory disease that manifests itself in multiple joints in the body. Inflammation from RA can affect joint lining and other organs, leading to cartilage and bone erosion and sometimes joint deformity. Pain, swelling, and redness are common joint symptoms.

The Arthritis Foundation reports that nearly 1.5 million people in the United States have RA.