60-Second Sound-off: How Biologics Fundamentally Changed Clinical Immunology (Video)

From more personalized, more effective treatment, to new insights into disease activity, biologics have fundamentally changed the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, according to Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, Director of the R.J. Fasenmyer Center for Clinical Immunology in Cleveland Clinic’s Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Institute.

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With these exciting advances, however, comes the potential for serious adverse events. Dr. Calabrese, a leader in the field of clinical immunology and founder of the Biologic Therapies Summit, which just completed its seventh year, shares his thoughts in this 1-minute clip:

“I believe that biologics have changed rheumatology and the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (or IMIDs) fundamentally. They have raised the bar. We are no longer satisfied with small outcomes. These are great responses that we are looking for in patients that improve quality of life, productivity and increase longevity.

Unfortunately not all people get them, but that’s where the bar is set and we have to keep going. The dark side is that they are extraordinarily expensive, and as we make them available to people throughout the world, costs have to go down…

Secondly, there’s no free lunch in the world of immunology and with great outcomes there will be adverse effects. Hopefully we’ll have better predictors and biomarkers and we can reduce these costs for people.”