ACR 2020 Rewind: Conference Highlights and Expert Interviews

December 30, 2020

Conferences | American College of Rheumatology Convergence (ACR)

Catch up on the biggest studies and expert interviews from ACR 2020.

Rheumatic Disease Patients Bear the Brunt of Antimalarial Shortages: Lessons learned from antimalarial drug shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic: rheumatic disease patients in African and South-East Asia had difficulty obtaining antimalarials as compared to counterparts in the Americas and Europe. Shortages led to worse mental and physical health outcomes. Antimalarials did not protect patients from COVID-19.

COVID-19 Severity Elevated for Black and Latinx Rheumatic Patients: Black and Latinx COVID-19 patients in the United States who suffer from rheumatic conditions are more likely to require hospitalization and invasive ventilation than their White counterparts, a new study suggests.

SPIRIT-H2H: Ixekizumab as Efficacious as Adalimumab for Psoriatic Arthritis: Ixekizumab appears to provide significantly greater simultaneous joint and skin improvement for patients with psoriatic arthritis than adalimumab and doesn’t require combination with methotrexate to boost its efficacy.

New Year May Bring New Lupus Treatments: At this year's annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, there were a number of studies presented on different treatments for lupus. It's an exciting time in lupus research says Dr. Richard Furie, chief of rheumatology at Northwell Health in New York. In today's one on one interview, he breaks down some of the lupus studies presented at the meeting

ACR Set to Issue Updated Treatment Guidelines: The American College of Rheumatology is expected to issue updated treatment guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis no later than spring 2021. The new guidelines will include recommended uses for biologics approved since the last update in 2015―including JAK inhibitors.