MSD (Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA), recently announced long-term tolerability and efficacy results from the open-label extension1 of the GO-AHEAD study, a randomised, double-blind study on the effect of Simponi® (golimumab) in treating patients with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axial SpA).2
MSD also released data from the nr-axial SpA Disease Specific Programme (DSP),3,4,5 a multi-national survey of patients and rheumatologists, funded by MSD, which highlights the burden of illness in patients with nr-axial SpA3, and the financial burden of this condition on employers and society due to productivity loss.4 The survey results also suggest a need for more consistent classification of nr-axial SpA.
