Sergio Chimenti from Rome introduced the plenary sessions of the Scholars’ Club, which is the final step in the Remicade Academy in Dermatology (READY) program. This program was developed by Schering-Plough, in collaboration with key opinion leaders, advisory boards and steering groups, to obtain a better understanding of the risk–benefit equation for infliximab so as to optimize its use in patients with psoriasis. The program comprised of three parts:
• Meet the expert
• Clinical observation program
• Scholars’ Club (the final step and the focus of this supplement)
As way of background, the READY program is an international collaboration and, in Italy alone, more than 30 dermatology centers have been involved thus far. In the Dermatology Department at the University of Rome, ‘Tor Vergata’ infliximab has been used for 7 years and, to date, 249 patients have been treated with the biologic, including 126 individuals with psoriatic arthritis and 123 with plaque-type psoriasis. In a subgroup of 64 psoriasis patients who have been treated for at least 3 years, impressive clinical results have been obtained, with approximately 80% achieving a Psoriasis Assessment and Severity Index-75 and 60% achieving a Psoriasis Assessment and Severity Index-90.
With regards to safety, 19% of patients have experienced at least one adverse event (mostly single episodes of mild dyspnea, urticaria, pruritus and increased blood pressure). One patient discontinued infliximab as a result of an infection following a bout of tonsillitis, which resolved with antibacterial therapy. No other signs of immunodepression have been observed. A further two patients discontinued treatment as a result of serious adverse events.
As described at the beginning of the meeting, the READY program is making rapid progress in its goal of understnading and communicating best practices with infliximab therapy. For example, ‘Meet the expert’ and ‘Global and local clinical observation’ sessions have been held. Indeed, more than 2000 dermatologists around the world have been trained via these activities. Nurse’s training has been initiated and this is important since nurses will be heavily involved in the intravenous delivery of infliximab. We are now entering the final phase of the READY program with this, the first of the Scholars’ Club meetings, in which over 160 dermatologists are assembled in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to share their clinical experience of using infliximab in patients with psoriasis. The goal during the course of the meeting is to learn from the experiences of others, and to discuss and agree upon areas of best clinical practice. This will be achieved through state-of-the-art plenary lectures and a series of follow-up practical workshops dealing with important clinical scenarios involving patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis – a physically and psychologically debilitating disorder.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Writing assistance was provided by Steve Clissold PhD (Content Ed Net), with funding by Schering-Plough, USA. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.