Scapho(Cosentyx) by Novartis; Dosage alteration

[FRP88]

I've been diagnosed with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis for just under three years.
Started off innocently, and took over a year to actually grab my attention. 
Mid 2017 until Mid 2018 - All the first off meds such as Methotrexate etc...
Nothing with any results.
Beginning of 2018 the Plaque growth jumped exponentially.

No decent dermatologists in my country.
Had to find out about biologics on my own. 
Went to the US to see a dermatologist. Prices we're absurdly high.
Was able to find Cosentyx marketed as Scapho in India.
Still extremely expensive but much cheaper than Cosentyx from the US.

Planned on starting Cosentyx in October however;
Did a TB test; came back positive;
Turned out i had a mycobacteria not TB. 
Currently on isoniazid and wasn't allowed to start Scapho until i had been on isoniazid for atleast two months.

Just had my 5th loading dose of Scapho last week.
Seeing decent results but not as good as some of the posts i had been reading on.
I'm on Scapho without any dermatologic supervision.

My Plaque psoriasis is extreme, Scapho has only cleared around 15%.
Now that loading is over, i want to use it bi- monthly.

Has anyone here ever deterred from the standard dosage?

Cheers,

[jiml]

Hi and   to the club I hope you get clearance with the cosentyx biosimilar. I don't have any personal  experience of biologicals and I don't know how successful it will be if you stretch the dose to bi-monthly. This post shows the recommended dosage

[To see links please register here]

I haven't read anywhere here of anyone stretching the dose, but hopefully someone might know better than me what the effect might be
Good luck and I hope it works well and look forward to hearing how well it works for you

[Fred]

@Jim Scapho is not a biosimilar, it is Coesntyx but marketed in India under the name Scapho.

@FRP88 You may be lucky and it will work for you bi-monthly but I doubt it myself. I have only tried bringing it forward by one week but it didn't work any better, so I couldn't help and I don't know of anyone ever trying it by-monthly.

Only one way to find out and that is to try it. Good luck and do let us know if it does work.

Welcome to Psoriasis Club by the way.  

[FRP88]

@Jim @Fred , 
Appreciate the welcome guys.
I've been reading on here for quite some time, just never activated my account.
Also @Fred, you're correct on Scapho not being a biosimilar.
It is crazy how much of a mark up these medicines have.
My insurance doesn't cover anything. My first 20shots cost exactly USD6000.
As if the burden of psoriasis wasn't enough, we also have to deal with the financial burden it brings with it.

Since the community here stretches around the globe i'm wondering if are places where it might be cheaper than what i'm currently paying.

[Caroline]

Dont know if it is cheaper here in The Netherlands, but you could inform yourself.
As there is an ancient relationship between Suriname and the Netherlands that might help.

[Fred]

I don't recall any of our members paying for it out of their own pocket, so I doubt there will be many answers.

Just a thought. Have you tried contacting Novartis ? They should be able to help or at least point you in some direction for those wanting to pay for it themselves.