EMEA osteoarthritis guidance recognizes symptom- and structure-modifying drugs.
Executive Summary
EMEA OSTEOARTHRITIS GUIDANCE RECOGNIZES SYMPTOM- AND STRUCTURE- MODIFYING DRUGS, breaking with the current nomenclature that recognizes fast-acting drugs that induce symptomatic relief, slow-acting drugs that induce symptomatic relief, and disease-modifying drugs. The European Medicines Evaluation Agency contends that arguments for maintaining the three-tier system are not compelling: "although drugs that act slowly may have different mechanisms of action from those that act rapidly, there is a range of duration of action of drugs which act on symptoms."