BÜHLMANN Scientific Symposium at GEDII on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Daily Practice and Scientific Insights

Antibody based drugs, so called biologics, targeting TNF-alpha, have a marked impact on the treatment success and quality of life of patients suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) or Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Among TNF-alpha inhibitors, infliximab and adalimumab are the most commonly used biologics.

These drugs sometimes come with side-effects, are expensive and not effective in all patients. To maximize treatment success, it is important that patients maintain optimal drug levels. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of trough levels and of antibodies against anti-TNF drugs allow to identify patients with suboptimal drug levels or developing antibodies against anti-TNF drugs.

With the addition of the Quantum Blue^® Anti-Adalimumab to the BÜHLMANN TDM rapid test portfolio last February, we now offer a complete tool for monitoring. Due to its reliability and ease of use, Quantum Blue^® TDM is globally used in clinical routine and research projects.

During the Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study Group (GEDII) on 24^th January 2020 in Cascais (Portugal) just before the pandemic struck, we presented a symposium about TDM in IBD. The two well known IBD experts Dr. Rogiério S. Parra and Professor Fernando Magro informed about the use of TDM in daily practice and presented some cutting edge scientific insights of its use for optimal patient monitoring.

Prof. Fernando Magro, Porto Medical School, Porto University, Centro Hospitalar São João from Portugal presented some data related to the advantage of using TDM.

Dr. Rogério S. Parra, Head of IBD Unity, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto from the University of São Paulo in Brazil showed the importance of using TDM in routine.