Are the Jaks condidered Biologics?

[EarthRock]

Just a quick question, are the jaks considered biologics or something else?Only asking as our fab Rheumy team has a different helplhelpline for Biologic patients to others and I didn't want to cause them more work by calling the wrong number. (I'm on Filgotinib)

Thank you in advance.

[Karen12]

Technically no they are not Biologics but my rheumatologist calls it that when talking about it which just confuses things. I think some departments (like mine) refer to anything other than standard DMARDs as “Biologics”. JAK inhibitors are synthetic and therefore not a form of biologic which is from a living cell.

Probably not a very helpful answer unfortunately. I do see the Biologics nurse for my annual review though.

[EarthRock in reply to Karen12]

Thank you

[bpeal1]

Technically JAK inhibitors are not biologics but an entirely new class of drugs, however, I suspect the biologic nurse covers both as they have similar monitoring and infection concerns as biologics.

[EarthRock in reply to bpeal1]

Thank you

[helenlw7]

My lung consultant calls them biologics, which I find very confusing!

[EarthRock]

Thanks to everyone who replied. As ever this group is so helpful. 😊