What makes KEVZARA different?

Have you recently been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), an inflammatory rheumatic disease?

Polymyalgia rheumatica can cause your immune system to attack your joints and muscles. Living with PMR can take a toll on you, both physically and emotionally.

PMR-related pain and stiffness can make daily activities that were once easy more difficult. We’re going to explore how proteins like interleukin 6, or IL-6, contribute to your pain and stiffness, and how IL-6 blockers may help.

IL-6 is a protein in the body that plays a major role in pain and stiffness.

With PMR, your body thinks it’s under attack. Your body sends many types of inflammatory proteins to your joints to fight this attack. But it doesn’t know when to stop.

When your body sends too many inflammatory proteins to your joints over a long period of time, you may experience pain and stiffness. IL-6 is one of these inflammatory proteins.

Persistently high levels of IL-6 may cause inflammation.

Persistently high levels of IL-6 can affect everyday activities and may make mornings especially tough for those living with PMR. Experts believe levels of IL-6 are higher in the morning due to our body’s circadian rhythm, the 24-hour internal cycle that controls essential functions like sleep, eating, and hormone production. People with PMR may experience pain and stiffness in the larger joints of the body, such as the shoulders and hips.

For a cell to respond to IL-6, the IL-6 molecule must attach to an IL-6 receptor. Once attached to the receptor, IL-6 triggers inflammation in the joint. Treatments can help reduce inflammation by blocking the IL-6 from reaching its receptor.

How KEVZARA® (sarilumab) blocks IL-6.

What is KEVZARA?

KEVZARA® (sarilumab) is an injectable prescription medicine called an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blocker. KEVZARA is used to treat adult patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) after corticosteroids have been used and did not work well or when a slow decrease in the dose of corticosteroids (taper) cannot be tolerated.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

KEVZARA can cause serious side effects including: 

• SERIOUS INFECTIONS: KEVZARA is a medicine that affects your immune system. KEVZARA can lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections. Some people have had serious infections while using KEVZARA, including tuberculosis (TB), and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses that can spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. Your healthcare provider should test you for TB before starting KEVZARA. Your healthcare provider should monitor you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with KEVZARA.

Please see additional Important Safety Information throughout this video and link above for full Prescribing Information, including risk of SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, and Medication Guide.

Blocking persistently high levels of IL-6 may help reduce inflammation, alleviate your symptoms, and let you get back to enjoying the things you love.

Using soccer to show how this works, imagine that the ball is an IL-6 protein, the goal is an IL-6 receptor, and the goalie is something called an IL-6 blocker. To trigger inflammation, the IL-6 protein, or soccer ball, must reach its receptor, or the goal line. To prevent this inflammation, the protein must be blocked. Like a goalie in soccer, an IL-6 blocker prevents it from reaching the goal line.

By preventing IL-6 connections on the cells and in the bloodstream, IL-6 blockers may help relieve pain and stiffness in the neck, shoulder, and pelvic girdle, and slow the progression of disease activity. One of these IL-6 blockers is a treatment called KEVZARA® (sarilumab).

Please see additional Important Safety Information throughout this video and link above for full Prescribing Information, including risk of SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, and Medication Guide.

Thank you for watching.

What is KEVZARA?

KEVZARA® is an injectable prescription medicine called an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blocker. KEVZARA is used to treat adult patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) after corticosteroids have been used and did not work well or when a slow decrease in the dose of corticosteroids (taper) cannot be tolerated.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

KEVZARA can cause serious side effects including:

• SERIOUS INFECTIONS: KEVZARA is a medicine that affects your immune system. KEVZARA can lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections. Some people have had serious infections while using KEVZARA, including tuberculosis (TB), and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses that can spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. Your healthcare provider should test you for TB before starting KEVZARA. Your healthcare provider should monitor you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with KEVZARA.
• Before starting KEVZARA, tell your healthcare provider if you
  • think you have an infection or have signs or symptoms of an infection, with or without a fever such as sweats or chills, muscle aches, a cough, shortness of breath, blood in your phlegm, weight loss, warm, red, or painful skin or sores on your body, diarrhea or stomach pain, burning when you urinate or urinating more often than normal, if you feel very tired, or if you are being treated for an infection, get a lot of infections or have repeated infections.
  • have diabetes, HIV, or a weakened immune system.
  • have TB, or have been in close contact with someone with TB.
  • live or have lived, or have traveled to certain parts of the country (such as the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys and the Southwest) where there is an increased chance of getting certain fungal infections (histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, or blastomycosis).
  • have or have had hepatitis.
• After starting KEVZARA, call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of an infection.
• CHANGES IN CERTAIN LABORATORY TEST RESULTS: Your healthcare provider should do blood tests before and after starting KEVZARA to check for low neutrophil (white blood cells that help the body fight off bacterial infections) counts, low platelet (blood cells that help with blood clotting and stop bleeding) counts, and an increase in certain liver function tests. Changes in test results are common with KEVZARA and can be severe. You may also have changes in other laboratory tests, such as your blood cholesterol levels. Your healthcare provider should do blood tests 4 to 8 weeks after starting KEVZARA and then every 6 months during treatment to check for an increase in blood cholesterol levels.
• TEARS (PERFORATION) OF THE STOMACH OR INTESTINES: Tell your healthcare provider if you have had a condition known as diverticulitis (inflammation in parts of the large intestine) or ulcers in your stomach or intestines. Some people using KEVZARA get tears in their stomach or intestine. This happens most often in people who also take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), corticosteroids, or methotrexate. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have fever and stomach (abdominal) pain that does not go away.
• CANCER: KEVZARA may increase your risk of certain cancers by changing the way your immune system works. Tell your healthcare provider if you have ever had any type of cancer.
• SERIOUS ALLERGIC REACTIONS: Serious allergic reactions can happen with KEVZARA. Get medical attention right away if you have any of the following signs: shortness of breath or trouble breathing; feeling dizzy or faint; swelling of your lips, tongue, or face; moderate or severe stomach (abdominal) pain or vomiting; or chest pain.
• Do not use KEVZARA if you are allergic to sarilumab or any of the ingredients of KEVZARA.
• Before using KEVZARA, tell your healthcare provider if you
  • have an infection.
  • have liver problems.
  • have had stomach (abdominal) pain or a condition known as diverticulitis (inflammation in parts of the large intestine) or ulcers in your stomach or intestines.
  • recently received or are scheduled to receive a vaccine. People who take KEVZARA should not receive live vaccines.
    • all vaccines should be brought up-to-date before starting KEVZARA, unless urgent treatment initiation is required.
  • plan to have surgery or a medical procedure.
  • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if KEVZARA will harm your unborn baby.
  • are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby if you use KEVZARA. It is not known if KEVZARA passes into your breast milk.
  • take prescription or nonprescription medicines, vitamins, or herbal supplements. It is especially important to tell your healthcare provider if you use:
    • any other medicines to treat your PMR. Using KEVZARA with these medicines may increase your risk of infection.
    • medicines that affect the way certain liver enzymes work. Ask your healthcare provider if you are not sure if your medicine is one of these.
• The most common side effects include:
  • injection site redness
  • injection site itching
  • upper respiratory tract infection
  • urinary tract infection
  • nasal congestion, sore throat, and runny nose

These are not all the possible side effects of KEVZARA. Tell your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or does not go away. You are encouraged to report side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA at www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

To learn more, talk about KEVZARA with your healthcare provider or pharmacist. The FDA-approved Medication Guide and Prescribing Information can be found below or by calling 1-844-KEVZARA.

Please see additional Important Safety Information throughout this video and link above for full Prescribing Information, including risk of SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, and Medication Guide.