Web Site Offers Important Information And Support Programs For People With Rheumatoid Arthritis And For Their Health Care Providers
SEATTLE, April 6, 1999 - In an effort to better educate patients and health care providers about ENBREL (etanercept), a breakthrough treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Immunex Corporation and Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals have launched the ENBREL Web Site: www.enbrel.com. ENBREL is used to treat moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in people who have not adequately responded to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
The comprehensive internet site explains how ENBREL works in the body, offers a question and answer section, provides an interactive quiz to help RA sufferers and their doctors determine if ENBREL may be right for them, and highlights several patients' personal experiences with ENBREL. Color photography and animation add to the graphic interest of the site.
Enbrel.com also offers two toll-free numbers to provide support to patients who are considering or are currently taking ENBREL. For questions about insurance coverage, patients can call the Reimbursement Support Line (1-800-282-7704) where they will be connected with an insurance specialist. To answer any noninsurance questions about ENBREL and RA in general, trained telephone counselors are available at 1-888-4ENBREL. A link to the Arthritis Foundation Web Site is also provided.
Approximately 2.1 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that can strike at any age and affects three times as many women as men. ENBREL is the first in a class of rheumatoid arthritis drugs known as biologic response modifiers (BRMs), a new approach to RA management and the first breakthrough treatment in many years for people with rheumatoid arthritis.
In medical studies, just over one third of people treated with ENBREL
(etanercept) rep
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Contact: Tim Warner
warnert@immunex.com
206-470-4193
Immunex Corporation
6-Apr-1999