WE DELIVER INNOVATIVE MEDICINES TO TREAT CHRONIC DISEASES AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE.

In Austria, more than two million people suffer from incurable immune system illnesses. People with these chronic illnesses such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel diseases cannot be cured. The good news is: Thanks to ongoing research and development of new therapeutic options, all of these conditions can be effectively managed. „AbbVie is a leader in this area. As specialists for treatment with biologics – bioengineered medicines – we have achieved great progress in the treatment of chronic illnesses and are making a remarkable impact on people’s lives,“said Ingo Raimon, General Manager of AbbVie Austria. „Visions of freedom from symptoms and control over the disease can come true only through innovation,“Raimon continued.

The biopharmaceutical company is committed to the fight against chronic diseases on a daily basis, and cites psoriasis as a good example to showcase the latest developments.

Dermatologists use various methods to determine the severity of psoriasis and the impact it has on everyday life. The Psoriasis

Area and Severity Index (PASI) is an important tool for measurement of the severity of psoriasis and the area affected by the condition. The area of skin change is assessed separately for the head, arms, trunk and legs. The severity of the disease is determined by redness, thickness and scaling. However, PASI does not capture the itching or impact of psoriasis on people’s lives. „The latest biologics are now capable of producing a very high percentage of PASI 90 and even PASI 100 scores in patients. It essentially means they have no symptoms,“said Ingo Raimon, highlighting this revolutionary development.

Stopping disease activity in a chronic illness is the result of advances in treatment and early access to clinical studies and innovative drugs. According to the European Commission’s Innovation Union Scoreboard 2017 (IUS), Austria is not just one of a group of „Strong Innovators“but, with a research quotient of 3.12 percent, is performing far above the EU28 average of 2.03 percent.2

„New medicines are rarely a product of chance: it generally takes ten to twelve years from the discovery of a treatment approach to a finished and approved medicinal product,“Ingo Raimon continued. A drug contender only makes it to the clinical trial stage if efficacy and safety have been proven. Once a candidate reaches the crucial clinical research stage, its efficacy and safety are demonstrated in a program of studies from phase 1 to phase 3. Approval finally comes after about ten years of successful research, followed by phase 4 studies to collect more data on the medicine after marketing.

These innovative medicines based on personalized treatment can help patients on a sustained basis. Therefore, it will be important in future to shift the focus more to patient preferences. AbbVie sees itself as a platform with a clear mission here: to foster teamwork among patients, self-help organizations, doctors, nurses and the industry – and make a difference in people’s lives.