Orencia

Hi Dawn,

You're right, it is in trial. As far as I know, the trials are restricted to people who've reacted to or have had little success with other biologics, such as Infliximab (Remicade) or Humira. I doubt if you'd be allowed to participate simply because you find Humira too expensive. If you're interested in participating in a trial, you should start making enquiries now, as the trial has been running for some time and each participating hospital has been allocated a certain number of places, and once those places are filled, you'll miss out.

You'll need to have your breasts checked by a gynae and maybe have a mammogram too; you'll also be asked whether you want to give a sample of your DNA for further research.

As far as I know (and please correct me if I'm wrong) the cost is about the same as Infliximab and Humira. Also, from what I remember, the Orencia is given as an infusion (in the trial stage anyway) so you'd have to factor in time off work etc if you were thinking about taking it.

All of this was told to me by a clinical trial nurse when I was very ill in hospital earlier this year so I may have some of the details wrong. I think they're basically right, though.

Hope this helps,

Ivy.

Thank you both for your very informative posts. I really appreciate it.