Biologic medications are specifically designed to mimic chemicals that are naturally found within the human body, and act to correct something that is going wrong.
A number of biologic treatments are available to treat psoriatic arthritis. There are various criteria for when biologic treatments can be prescribed to treat psoriatic arthritis, and for some treatments the criteria may vary if you are in Scotland compared to England or Wales. Please check the information on each individual biologic treatment for more information about when it can be prescribed.
As with the traditional systemic DMARDs, people taking biologic treatments will have regular blood tests and other checks, to monitor for side effects. As biologic treatments suppress the immune system, it is recommended that people taking them have an annual flu vaccination, as well as a pneumococcal vaccination before you start biologic treatment. Not all vaccinations, however, are safe to have when taking a biologic treatment, so you should always check with your Rheumatologist or another healthcare professional before having them.
Click on the links below to find out more about the different types of biologic medications available to treat psoriatic arthritis.
Adalimumab (Humira, Amgevita, Hulio, Hyrimoz, Idacio and Imraldi)
Etanercept (Enbrel and Benepali)
Infliximab (Remicade, Flixabi, Remsima, Zessly and Inflectra)
Ustekinumab (Stelara, Uzpruvo, Wezenla, Steqeyma and Pyzchiva)
For more information, or for a list of resources used in the production of this information, please contact us.