Diplomat to distribute Otezla for psoriatic arthritis

FLINT, Mich. — Diplomat on Monday announced that it is one of a select group of specialty pharmacies contracted by Celgene to distribute Otezla (apremilast), a new medication for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis. Otezla is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) specific for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). 

Otezla was approved by the FDA on March 21, 2014, and is available in 10 mg, 20 mg and 30 mg tablets. 

Per manufacturer’s instructions, patients taking Otezla should have their weight monitored regularly by a healthcare professional. If clinically significant or unexplained weight loss occurs while taking Otezla, the patient should be evaluated and discontinuation of therapy should be considered. The most common side effects experienced by patients taking Otezla were diarrhea, nausea and headache. In clinical trials, patients taking Otezla were also associated with more reports of depression compared to those patients on placebo.