What has NICE said?
Ustekinumab (Stelara) is recommended as a possible treatment, alone or with a drug called methotrexate, for adults with active psoriatic arthritis when treatment with non-biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (or DMARDS) has not worked well enough if:
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treatment with tumour necrosis factor (TNF) alpha inhibitors is not suitable for them, or
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the person has had a TNF‑alpha inhibitor before.
Treatment with ustekinumab should be stopped after 24 weeks if it is not working well enough.
What does this mean for me?
If you have psoriatic arthritis and your doctor thinks that ustekinumab is the right treatment, you should be able to have the treatment on the NHS. Ustekinumab should be available on the NHS within 3 months of the guidance being issued.
If you are not eligible for treatment as described above, you should be able to continue taking ustekinumab until you and your doctor decide it is the right time to stop.