Amgen's Enbrel Mini with AutoTouch is now available in the United States. Awarded the Arthritis Foundation Ease of Use Commendation, this new and innovative delivery system provides an additional administration option for appropriate Enbrel patients.

The AutoTouch reusable autoinjector has an ergonomic design that includes features that were designed with patients in mind, including an ergonomic handle, a needle designed to stay hidden during the injection, a sensor to detect placement on skin, a speed switch with three injection speeds, a progress bar, and a speaker. The AutoTouch reusable autoinjector is used with Enbrel Mini single-dose prefilled cartridges (50 mg/mL) that utilize a new drug formulation of Enbrel that was associated with substantially significant lower mean injection site pain than the current formulation.

"As a leader in the inflammation space, we continually strive to innovate to address real needs among the patients we serve. The first step in this is talking and listening to the community, both patients and healthcare professionals, to fully understand the challenges they are facing," said Sean E. Harper, MD, executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "These conversations highlighted the value of features that we believe enhance the patient experience. From there, the Enbrel Mini with AutoTouch and the new formulation, were born."

Enbrel is an injectable biologic approved for the treatment of several chronic conditions including moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), moderate-to-severe polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (PsO) in patients four years or older. The Enbrel Mini with AutoTouch was FDA-approved in September 2017.

A Phase 3b multicenter, randomized, double-blind, crossover study was conducted to assess the injection site pain associated with a modified etanercept formulation in adult patients with either moderate-to-severe RA or PsA. In addition to demonstrating a significant reduction in injection site pain, the adverse events were similar to those seen in previous studies in adults with moderate-to-severe RA and PsA.