Biosimilars in childhood chronic rheumatic diseases: friend or foe?

ations & Notes Article Info Linked Articles (1) Cover Image - The Lancet Rheumatology, Volume 6, Issue 7 Get Access Cite Share Set Alert Get Rights Reprints Previous article Next article Show Outline Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic disease in childhood; it affects the joints and eyes of children younger than 16 years and can persist into adulthood.1 The first-line treatments for JIA are disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), specifically methotrexate. However, conventional synthetic DMARDs do not result in disease remission in a large proportion of children. Interestingly, biologics such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors (eg, adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab) have substantially changed the prognosis of the disease.2 The use of biologics is becoming widespread among children with rheumatic diseases and treatment is starting earlier in the disease course than ever before.